IJCS | Volume 33, Nº3, May / June 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36660/ijcs.20200074 Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death in Brazil and worldwide, determining increased morbidity and disability-adjusted life years. The implementation of health policies, among them, encouraging healthy lifestyle habits and providing access to primary and secondary CVD prevention measures, associated with the treatment of cardiovascular (CV) events are essential to control CVD in all countries, including Brazil. 1 Arterial hypertension (AH) has a high prevalence in Brazil. It varies according with the population studied and the assessment method used. It is often associated with metabolic disorders, functional and/or structural changes in target organs, beingworsened by the presence of other risk factors (RF), such as dyslipidemia, abdominal obesity, glucose intolerance and diabetes mellitus (DM). 2 For an individualized approach of hypertensive patients, the Ministry of Health proposes the use of risk stratification to define the prognosis and clinical approach to hypertension in primary health care (PHC), including the adoption of the Framingham risk score (FRS). 3 This score includes the estimate of 10 years of coronary and cerebrovascular events, peripheral arterial disease, or heart failure (HF) and was also the score adopted by the Department of Atherosclerosis of SBC (Departamento de Aterosclerose da Sociedade Brasileira de Cardiologia - SBC-DA). 1 Published studies have shown that, worldwide, over the past 50 years, the population has increased in weight. This is an important cardiovascular risk and should be tackled through a government policy in pursuit of an effective action. 4 A study carried out in Northern Brazil on the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in patients with coronary artery disease showed that sedentary lifestyle was present in approximately three quarters of individuals (74.4%); overweight and obesity in more than half (64.4%); and high waist circumference measurements in 88.9% of women and 51.8% of men. 5 In a study conducted in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Pizzi and cols., 6 evaluated the association between pulse wave velocity (PWV) with some cardiovascular risk factors (blood pressure, serum lipids, insulin andHOMA-IR and adiponectin) in young individuals. The results showed that cardiovascular impairment assessed by PWV was higher among individuals with these risk factors, especially among male subjects and those with higher mean blood pressure. 6 The study ELSA-Brasil is a multicenter cohort research performed in several Brazilian teaching and research institutions. It was designed to investigate the impact of cardiovascular risk factors (diabetes, history of CVD and its risk factors) on the morbidity, mortality and costs for the Brazilian healthcare system. 7 In a recent publication of this study, which included data from8,449 participants aged 35 to 74 years, the authors evaluated the association between abdominal adiposity and the carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), according to the following indicators: waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), conicity index (C index), lipid accumulation product (LAP) and visceral adiposity index (VAI). It was clear that this association exists in both genders, mainly for waist circumference. 8 In the multiple logistic regression, the abdominal adiposity diagnosed by WC showed an important effect on the CIMT in both genders (men: OR = 1.47, 95%CI: 1.22-1.77, women: OR = 1.38; 95%CI: 1.17-1.64). 225 EDITORIAL International Journal of Cardiovascular Sciences. 2020; 33(3):225-226 Mailing Address: Erika Campana Av. Abílio Augusto Távora, 2134 - Dom Rodrigo, Nova Iguaçu. Postal Code: 26275-580, Nova Iguaçu, Rio de Janeiro, RJ – Brazil. E-mail: campanaemg@predialnet.com.br, campanaemg@gmail.com The Importance of Cardiovascular Risk in Primary Healthcare Erika Maria Gonçalves Campana 1 a nd Rafael Santos Costa 1, 2 Universidade Iguaçu, 1 Rio de Janeiro, RJ – Brazil. Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, 2 Rio de Janeiro, RJ – Brazil. Cardiovascular Diseases/mortality; Cardiovascular Diseases/prevention and control; Risk Factors; Hypertension; Life Style; Obesity; TreatmentAdherence. Keywords