Several studies explore risk-attributable burden for individual risks1, 2, 3 at the global, regional, or national level. Other studies provide assessments of exposure for selected risks. However, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) comparative risk assessment (CRA) is the only comprehensive and comparable approach to risk factor quantification. The most recent of these assessments was GBD 2015.4, 5, 6 With each cycle of GBD, scientific discussions have emerged on various dimensions of risk quantification that have led to improvements and modifications of GBD. Many of these are focused on the strength of evidence supporting a causal connection for specific risk-outcome pairs, while others relate to measurement challenges.7, 8, 9 Further, new risk factors have been added for important health conditions included in GBD, such as neonatal outcomes and Alzheimer's dementia,10 which have previously not had associated risk factors. The recent trials on blood pressure control at lower levels of systolic blood pressure, including the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT)11 and Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation-3 (HOPE-3) trial,12 have also brought attention to the difference between
