[Debating disease: the risk factor concept in political economic and scientific consideration, 1968 to 1986].

Abstract

The risk factor concept was developed in American epidemiological studies ongoing since the 1940s researching the causes of chronic cardiovascular diseases. By looking at the depiction of this model in a variety of media in Germany between 1968 and 1986 we can put its close interaction with contemporary socio-political debates under scrutiny. Thereby, a strong connection between the various agents' political and economic interests on the one hand and the incorporation of the risk factor concept into their specific agendas will become apparent. The risk factor concept was not fundamentally changed in the process but it was adapted to contemporary conditions and political constellations. Thereby, so it will be argued, the medical uses of the model, especially regarding the prevention of chronic cardiovascular disease, were forced into the background of public debates.