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Approved Research

Impact of classical cardiovascular risk factors on population attributable fractions (PAFs) and lifetime risks (LTRs) to predict cardiovascular disease (CVD) burden globally and CVD risk in Europe.

Principal Investigator: Professor Stefan Blankenberg
Approved Research ID: 63412
Approval date: August 19th 2020

Lay summary

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) account for approximately one third of all deaths globally. Multiple factors are causally related to CVD including the classical cardiovascular risk factors blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, total cholesterol and excess body weight. CVD risk increases with the absolute number and combination of risk factors, while certain risk factors may have a greater impact on CVD risk than others. To systematically investigate the differential impact of classical cardiovascular risk factors on CVD incidence we are about to establish a Global Cardiovascular Risk Consortium (GCVRC) that collects data from cohort studies in Europe, Australia, Asia, the U.S., South America and Africa.

With this global effort, we aim to investigate in the next 2-3 years the impact of modifiable risk factors on new-onset CVD according to geographical regions and ethnical background and simulate potential risk reduction. Our approach will allow us to improve strategies of individualized risk factor control that will directly improve prognosis of respective individuals.