Modifiable risk factors

Executive summary

* A global team of researchers set out to examine the associations between two outcomes and five risk factors.

* The two outcomes were cardiovascular disease (CVD) and death from any cause. The five risk factors were chosen because they are considered modifiable: BMI, systolic blood pressure, non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, smoking and diabetes.

* The study reviewed data from over 1.5 million people involved in 112 population studies from 34 countries and 8 regions.

* The authors concluded that 57% and 53% of incidents of CVD among women and men, respectively, and 22% and 19% of deaths from any cause among women and men, respectively, may be attributable to these five modifiable risk factors.

* The inference was that these percentages of CVD and deaths could be avoided if the risk factors were modified.