Community-Based Cardiovascular Prevention Programs: Theory and Practice

During the decades after World War II the main risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (CVD) were identi􀂿ed through numerous epidemiologial follow-up studies.1 Many other observations from animal studies to ecological comparisons have supported the hypothesis that these risk factors are, indeed, causal. In the classical research chain, the “final proof” would come from randomized trials