If I have a risk factor for a disease, does that mean that I ...

[MGLQZ]

  If I have a risk factor for a disease, does that mean that I will eventually get the disease?
 

Question 2

  If epidemiologic studies cannot be used to test for causal relationships, should I believe any claims that are based on them?
 

[mrphibs]

Answer to Question 1

No. But the more risk factors you have, the more likely it is that you may have the disease in your life.

Answer to Question 2

Yes. Sometimes other types of studies cannot be conducted, and epidemiologic studies must be relied on to try to explain an observation. For example, most of what we know about the risks of smoking on chronic disease in humans was discovered using epidemiologic studies.

[MGLQZ]

Thanks

[mrphibs]

Welcome