Related topics: heart disease , risk
Risk factor
hideA risk factor is a variable associated with an increased risk of disease or infection. Risk factors are correlational and not necessarily causal, because correlation does not imply causation. For example, being young cannot be said to cause measles, but young people are more at risk as they are less likely to have developed immunity during a previous epidemic.
Risk factors are evaluated by comparing the risk of those exposed to the potential risk factor to those not exposed. Let's say that at a wedding, 74 people ate the chicken and 22 of them were ill, while of the 35 people who had the fish or vegetarian meal only 2 were ill. Did the chicken make the people ill?
So the chicken eaters' risk = 22/74 = 0.297 And non-chicken eaters' risk = 2/35 = 0.057.
Those who ate the chicken had a risk over five times as high as those who did not, suggesting that eating chicken was the cause of the illness. Note, however, that this is not proof. Statistical methods would be used in a less clear cut case to decide what level of risk the risk factor would have to present to be able to say the risk factor is linked to the disease (for example in a study of the link between smoking and lung cancer). Even then, no amount of statistical analysis could prove that the risk factor causes the disease; this could only be proven using direct methods such as a medical explanation of the disease's roots.
The earliest use of risk factor analysis dates back to Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine (1020s), though the term "risk factor" was first coined by heart researcher Dr. Thomas R. Dawber in a landmark scientific paper in 1961, where he attributed heart disease to specific conditions (blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking).
For more information about Risk factor, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with risk factors
Obesity will snuff out health benefits gained by smoking declines
Dec 02, 2009 |
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If obesity trends continue, the negative effect on the health of the U.S. population will overtake the benefits gained from declining smoking rates, according to a study by U-M and Harvard researchers published today in the ...
Breastfeeding protects women from metabolic syndrome, a diabetes and heart disease predictor
Dec 03, 2009 |
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Breastfeeding a child may lower a woman’s risk of developing Metabolic Syndrome, a condition linked to heart disease and diabetes in women, according to a Kaiser Permanente study that was published today online ahead of print ...
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Glucose intolerance in pregnancy associated with postpartum cardiovascular risk
Dec 01, 2009 |
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Women who have gestational glucose intolerance (a condition less severe than gestational diabetes) exhibit multiple cardiovascular risk factors as early as three months after birth, according to a new study accepted for publication ...
Cigarette smoking increases colorectal cancer risk
Dec 04, 2009 |
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New study results strengthen the evidence that people who smoke cigarettes over a long period of time have an increased risk for developing colorectal cancer, even after adjusting for other risk factors.
Availability of vaccine no guarantee public will want it
Nov 30, 2009 |
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Just because a vaccine is available doesn't mean people will choose to be inoculated, according to new UofT research published amid widespread public confusion around the merit of H1N1 flu shots.
Americans born in the South may have a higher risk of dying from stroke as adults
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Nov 30, 2009 |
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The "stroke belt" has a tight hold. People born in the Southern stroke belt have a higher risk of dying from stroke as adults, even if they later move away, compared to people who were born in other parts of the country. ...
Researchers find increased dairy intake reduces risk of uterine fibroids in black women
Dec 04, 2009 |
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Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) researchers at the Slone Epidemiology Center found that black women with high intake of dairy products have a reduced incidence of uterine leiomyomata (fibroids). This report, based ...
Childhood cancer survivor study report: Late recurrence is a risk for some cancers
Dec 04, 2009 |
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Late recurrence is a risk for some pediatric cancers, particularly Ewing sarcomas and tumors of the central nervous system, according to a new study published online December 4 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Popular diabetes drugs linked to increased risk of heart failure and death
Medicine & Health / Medications
Dec 04, 2009 |
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Sulphonylureas, a type of drug widely used to treat type 2 diabetes, carries a greater risk of heart failure and death compared with metformin, another popular antidiabetes drug.
Study shows antibiotic unsuccessful in preventing preterm labor
Medicine & Health / Medications
Dec 01, 2009 |
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The antibiotic, called azithromycin, is effective in treating infections such as syphilis, Chlamydia and Ureaplasma urealyticum - a bacterial infection thought to play a significant role in causing preterm labour. Recent studi ...
Gay, bisexual men who have social anxiety tend to engage in risky sex
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Dec 01, 2009 |
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A Ryerson University HIV researcher has found a link between social anxiety and unsafe sexual activities among gay and bisexual men, some of whom are HIV-positive.
Can heart disease treatments combat AMD?
Dec 01, 2009 |
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Can treatments that reduce risks for cardiovascular disease (CVD) also help combat age-related macular degeneration (AMD), an eye disease that affects millions of Americans? CVD and AMD share some risk factors-such as smoking, ...
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