Explain risk factors and their role in cad ?
The concept of risk factors constitutes a major advance for developing strategies to prevent CVD. The Framingham Heat Study played a vital role in defining the contribution of risk factors to CAD occurrence in the general population. CAD is almost always caused by atherosclerosis of the coronal arteries, There are certain factors or characteristics that increase the chance or possibility of getting coronary artery disease. These factors by their presence or association predispose, cause, accelerate and/or aggravate the atherosclerotic process or increase the chance of getting CVD. The term risk factor describes those characteristics found in healthy individuals, which are independently related to the subsequent occurrence of CAD.
Risk factors of CAD &e conventionally classified as causal, conditional or predisposing factors. Causal factors are directly responsible for promoting atherosclerosis. High blood cholesterol is one of them. Conditional factors are associated with an increased risk of CAD but their role in atherogenesis is mostly contributory and not a causal one - for example high aiglycelide level in the blood.
The predisposing risk factors like age and sex influence CAD by intensifying the action of major causal factors and also affecting the conditional factors.
The risk factors can again be classified as major or minor factors. The major factors are those conditions, which even if present singly camp romote atherosclerosis. On the other hand two or more minor factors are required to exert significant effect on the pathological process.
However from the preventive point of view the important way of classifying their is to group them as modifiable or non-modifiable factors. Modifiable factors can be controlled or modified by simple measures whereas non-modifiable risk factors cannot be changed or modified. The non-modifiable factors are the personal characteristics like age, sex, heredity, and family history of early-onset CAD, none of which can be changed on the other hand the modifiable factors are mostly the lifestyles and biochemical and physiological characteristics, which are runellable to control, modification, elimination and treatment - and so are the main focuses of action in prevention of CAD.