Cardiovascular risk factors: hemorheologic and hemostatic components

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Epidemiology
• Genomics

Background:

• The Framingham Project established key cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors.
• Understanding CVD risk involves traditional factors, predisposing conditions, and biomarkers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present the objectives of the Framingham Project.
• To discuss traditional and emerging CVD risk factors and biomarkers.
• To highlight challenges in defining and assessing cardiovascular risk.

Main Methods:

• Review of the Framingham Project's original objectives.
• Discussion of established CVD risk factors (e.g., dyslipidemia, hypertension, smoking, diabetes).
• Exploration of additional predisposing factors and diverse biomarkers (hemorheologic, hemostatic, physical, morphologic, genomic).

Main Results:

• Traditional risk factors like hypertension, smoking, and dyslipidemia are significant predictors of CVD.
• Hemorheologic and hemostatic factors are identified as crucial predictors and markers for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular events.
• Challenges in risk definition arise from variable terminology, methodologies, and sector-specific effects.

Conclusions:

• Cardiovascular risk assessment is complex due to multifactorial influences and methodological variations.
• Hemorheologic and hemostatic factors offer valuable insights into atherosclerosis and CVD prediction.
• Future genomic and proteomic research holds promise for clarifying CVD mechanisms and improving risk stratification.