Angliholic wrote:

Avangi wrote: Me too! Maybe it's a gringo thing or a doctor thing   -   "risk factors"   "How many of these are you at risk for?"  I hear it a lot because I'm at risk for all of 'em. (Doctors are too busy to worry about grammar.)  Hi, what do you mean by "a gringa thing?"    -  A. Edit.  Sorry, I got that wrong.  Smoking and high cholesterol are risk factors; stroke and heart attack are what you're at risk for/of.   Hi, I am all at seas about this; what do you mean by this? Thanks, Avangi. What you descirbed is all Greek to me? Would you be kind enough to say it again in other words? Thanks.

Sorry about that, Angliholic, I believe I got carried away.

I was trying to make the point that different populations might have different pronoun preferences in the expression, "at risk for/of [some disease or medical condition]."  That seems to have been born out by the internet searches described above.  I thought Americans (gringos to some) might prefer "at risk for [heart disease]."

The medical practice community is heavily invested in the concept of "risk factors" and (naturally) has influenced the attendant language. I have the feeling that practicing doctors take a less academic approach to language than do students of other disciplines  -  simply because a medical education is so demanding.  From my own experience as a patient I know that "at risk for" is widely used.

[That's what I wanted to say.  Sorry about the slang.]

   -  A.