OBJECTIVE: To describe the treatment of cardiovascular risk factors within the context of a cohort study of adults, according to the risk estimated by the Framingham equation. METHOD: This prospective study, DESIR, followed 1526 men and 1652 women for six years. At the time of the study's initiation, all participants were aged 35 to 65, and none were being treated for hypertension or dyslipemia. Treatments for hypertension and dyslipemia initiated during the study were analyzed according to categories of cardiovascular risk based on the Framingham scale. RESULTS: At baseline, 24% of men and 5% of women had an estimated 10 years cardiovascular risk (for CHD) higher or equal to 10%. Three years later, only 19% of these men and 36% of these women had been treated, while 6% of men and 9% of women at risk < 10% had also been treated well. At six years, one third of men at high risk at baseline and/or at three years were treated, against half of the women. CONCLUSION: Despite a significant effort to communicate the importance of addressing and treating the individual risk factors, the currently prescribed treatments remain inadequate, especially given the necessity to treat them based on the assessment of the overall cardiovascular risk.