Cardiovascular Risk Factors: It's Time to Focus on Variability!

J Lipid Atheroscler. 2020 May;9(2):255-267. doi: 10.12997/jla.2020.9.2.255. Epub 2020 Apr 7.

Abstract

Atherosclerotic heart disease remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. While extensive research supports cardiovascular risk factor reduction in the form of achieving evidence-based blood pressure, lipid, glucose, and body weight targets as a means to improve cardiovascular outcomes, residual risk remains. Emerging data have demonstrated that the intraindividual variability of these risk factor targets potentially contribute to this residual risk. It may therefore be time to define risk factor by not only its magnitude and duration as done traditionally, but perhaps also by the variability of that particular risk factor over time.

Keywords: Blood pressure; Body weight; Cholesterol; Heart rate; Mortality.

Publication types

  • Review