PREVALENCE AND ROLE OF DIFFERENT RISK FACTORS WITH EMPHASIS ON GENETICS IN DEVELOPMENT OF PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE (CAD)

Abstract

To focus on the prevalence and role of different risk factors contributing inpathophysiology of coronary artery disease (CAD). Relevant articles publishedbetween 2006 and 2018 were studied with the help of various data basesincluding Google scholar, PubMed, Medline, Springer link, and Science direct.Articles published only in indexed journals were taken in account to ensure thecredibility of data. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a silently progressivechronic disorder which generally establishes overtime to an advance stage till thesymptoms appear. In high income countries, the mortality rate has declined since1980 whereas, middle and low income countries bear three quarters of the globalCAD burden. South Asians are at a greater risk and the prevalence is 50% to 300%higher than the rest of the world. It is a multifactorial disorder and arises from aninteraction between environmental and genetic factors. The conventional CADrisk factors (CRFs) include age, gender, blood lipids, smoking, blood pressureand diabetes. Most of the CAD risk factors are modifiable by targeting lifestylechanges, drug intervention and prior identification of those who are at high risk ofdeveloping disease. The variability in disease susceptibility in individualsexposed to similar environmental factors and having almost same CRFs can beattributed to the genetic variations. Genetic testing may improve discriminationover and above the CRFs.

Key Words: Coronary artery disease (CAD), Risk factors, genetic testing,Oxidative and inflammatory pathways, Diabetes, Hypertension, Obesity.