Preface

With an increasingly aging patient population and changing diets, cardiovascular risk factors are becoming more and more relevant in today's world.

Cardiovascular mortality remains the number one cause of death worldwide, and every attempt should be made to educate the public about the prevention and modification of the various cardiovascular risk factors.

Cardiovascular risk factors are generally divided into those that are modifiable and those that are not. Non-modifiable factors include age, gender, family history, diabetes mellitus (type 1 or 2), hypertension, hyperlipidemia, chronic kidney disease, and various chronic inflammatory diseases. Modifiable risk factors are those that can be addressed through lifestyle modification. These include diet (low fiber, high fat, and high carbohydrate), sedentary lifestyle, smoking, alcohol, obesity, and psychosocial factors. Some factors that are listed as non-modifiable can be largely influenced by lifestyle modification, especially in the early stages of the disease, like the impact of obesity and diet on hypertension and diabetes.

This book highlights the importance of addressing cardiovascular risk factors prior to any cardiovascular event (i.e., primary prevention), as controlling those risk factors as part of secondary prevention is important but not as impactful.

It is crucial to recognize that specific work settings can also predispose people to cardiovascular disease, through traditional or work-specific risk factors. In this book, we address the various cardiovascular risk factors that affect aircrew as an example. Addressing risk factors early on in life is very important, and this book describes cardiovascular risk factors in children and the importance of modifying those risk factors in the initial phases before significant atherosclerotic disease occurs.

I hope this book inspires further research on early recognition and prevention of cardiovascular risk factors.

> **Johnny Chahine, MD** University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

Section 1
