Editorial [Hot Topic:Modifying Cardiovascular Risk Factors: Newer Insights and Preventive Measures (Executive Editor: Aurelio Leone)]

Nowadays, there is no doubt that cardiovascular risk factors, how ever they may be identified - and there is considerable evidence that permits to assess their role to cause, maintain and potentiate cardiovascular events - are continuously increasing in number and new pathogenetic mechanisms of damage are continuously recognised. The degree of cardiovascular damage caused by risk factors depends on isolated or combined action of how these factors determine clinical, biochemical, metabolic and pharmacologic alterations which could be strongly related with cardiovascular pathology. The reviews in this issue set a goal to analyse newer insights that link some features of the main cardiovascular risk factors with cardiac and vascular pathology. Among the major cardiovascular risk factors, there is always more and more evidence that genetic mechanisms adversely influence heart and blood vessels of active smokers or individuals exposed passively to cigarette smoke. Armani et al. [1] analyse molecular and biochemical changes of cardiac myocytes as well as the mechanisms involved in cigarette smoking-related cardiovascular dysfunction.