Abstract
Atherosclerosis is the principal cause of coronary artery disease (CAD), cerebrovascular disease (CVD), and peripheral artery disease (PAD) and represents a leading global cause of death and disability. Atherosclerosis is one of the most complex disorders with multiple genetic and environmental contributions. This chapter reviews numerous genetic and environmental risk factors for cardiovascular diseases associated with atherosclerosis. Of the major genetic risk factors, family history is the most significant independent one. Familial hypercholesterolemia, familial hypertension, familial diabetes and familial obesity are at the top of the list of heritable and genetic risk factors. Moreover, these multiple heritable and genetic risk factors also cluster, in many cases, in families. Although familial hypercholesterolemia is the best-characterized heritable risk factor in familiar arteriosclerosis, it explains only a small percentage of disease susceptibility. On the other hand, the major environmental risk factors are cigarette smoking, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and infection. Most cases of myocardial infarction and stroke result from the interactions of multiple genetic and environmental factors, none of which can cause disease by itself.
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