Correlations & Causal Relationships - The Heart

Question 1

Correlation is an

Answer 1

association or relationship between variables

Question 2

Causation occurs when

Answer 2

Causation occurs when one variable has an influence or is influenced by, another

Question 3

There is a clear distinction between correlation and causation: a correlation does not necessarily imply a

Answer 3

causation

Question 4

All of the risk factors for CHD can interact and affect one another
The causal relationship for some risk factors can be very clear
A diet high in LDLs will cause the lumens of blood vessels to narrow and the increase the likelihood of an atheroma developing in the coronary arteries

The interaction between risk factors in studies and investigations can make it hard to determine some causal relationships

For example, it would seem illogical that an overweight smoker would not suffer from CHD but that overweight, non-smoker would

The latter individual could have a strong genetic predisposition to CHD (that wasn’t picked up in the study) which when combined with high blood pressure from being overweight results in CHD

Question 5

Therefore, it is very important when evaluating data on risk factors that you state

Answer 5

that a factor increases or descreases the risk or that there is a correlation between a factor and an outcome but that this one factor is not necessarily the (only) cause