What are Risk Factors?

Risk factors are habits, conditions and characteristics that can increase a person’s chance of developing a disease. For instance, smoking cigarettes increases the chance of lung cancer, so it is a risk factor. Common risk factors for developing osteoporosis are insufficient calcium and vitamin D, early menopause and being 50 years old or older. Risk factors for heart disease are smoking tobacco, high blood cholesterol, physical inactivity and being overweight. All diseases have risk factors associated with them.