Review of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases.

Traditional risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) include only the patient's age and family history and whether there is evidence of hypertension, elevated LDL, low HDL, diabetes or history of smoking. In recent years, considerable progress has been made in identifying a new generation of risk factors, including Lp(a). triglycerides, subfractions of HDL and LDL, modified LDL, apo E pheno/genotype, homocysteine and fibrinogen. At the same time, studies have broadened our knowledge of traditional markers. These advances have enabled physicians to make a better assessment of patient risk for CHD and to prescribe more appropriate treatment.