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Educational attainment is associated with risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), presumably as a marker or mediator of other traditional risk factors. To clarify the magnitude of this risk, researchers examined population-based data from about 14,000 U.S. adults (age range, 45–64; 27% black) who were free of CVD at baseline. Educational attainment was categorized in six levels ranging from grade school to graduate or professional school. Participants were followed for a median 19 years; about 4500 incident CVD events occurred.
Lifetime risk for CVD was correlated inversely with educational attainment level; for example, overall lifetime risks among those with only grade school educations, those who graduated from high school, and those with …