The European Society of Cardiology
a Department of Cardiology, Malmö University Hospital, 205 02 Malmö, Sweden
b Department of Medicine, University College London Medical School, London, UK
* Correspondence: Dr. L.R. Erhardt, Department of Cardiology, Malmö University Hospital, 205 02 Malmö, Sweden. Tel.: +46 40 33 1941; fax: +46 40 33 7329 (E-mail: leif.erhardt@medforsk.mas.lu.se).
| The first 10% of the full text of this article appears below. |
Introduction
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) involves a complex interplay of risk factors, many of which share common pathogenic mechanisms. Risk factors, such as dyslipidaemia, hypertension, hyperglycaemia and diabetes, tend to cluster in individuals, and have a synergistic effect on CVD risk. For example, risk is greater in patients with diabetes compared with patients without diabetes. As a result, the National Cholesterol Education Program