2.1. Study Design and Population. It is a multicenter casecontrol study, conducted between October 2011 and October
2012, in six hospitals in Lebanon, comparing CVD cases
to a control group. Cases were defined as patients aged
40 years or above, hospitalized for cardiovascular disease,
diagnosed with ST/non-ST elevation, myocardial infarction,
stable/unstable angina, or heart failure, confirmed by a cardiologist based on their clinical presentation and laboratory
exams [23]. The control group consisted of any subject aged
40 years or above admitted to the same hospitals for reasons
excluding diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, respiratory
problems, or cardiovascular diseases. All participants signed
an informed consent before enrolment in our study. Only 3
cases and 7 controls refused to take part in our research.