Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death and hospitalization in both sexes in nearly all countries of Europe. The main forms of cardiovascular disease are ischaemic heart disease and stroke. The magnitude of the problem contrasts with the shortage, weak quality and comparability of data available in most European countries. Innovations in medical, invasive and biological treatments have substantiall...
In this paper, the authors make a critical revision of the literature related to psychosocial risk factors and coronary artery disease (CAD). With this objective, we begin to present the main theories describing the underlying mechanisms of atherosclerosis (inflammatory, thrombolitic and lipid theory), as well as the principal mechanisms leading to CAD events. Next, we introduce the concept of risk factor, and ...