How Common Are Cardiovascular Risk-Enhancing Factors?

The 2026 lipid guidelines from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association reaffirm the recommendation to consider risk-enhancing factors as part of cardiovascular risk assessment, especially for patients at borderline risk. In this National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey analysis from 2015 to 2020, researchers evaluated data from 3000 adults aged 40 to 75 without known atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) to estimate the prevalence of nine risk enhancers: family history of premature ASCVD, chronic kidney disease, metabolic syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, early menopause, elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), and three lipid measures (high non-HDL cholesterol, LDL cholester…