Are there any potential security risks associated with using includes in PHP, especially within a database-driven application?

Using includes in PHP can potentially lead to security risks, especially within a database-driven application, if the included files are not properly sanitized. This can open up the application to code injection attacks or unauthorized access to sensitive information. To mitigate these risks, always ensure that included files are validated and sanitized before including them in your application.

// Example of including a file with proper validation and sanitization
$includedFile = 'path/to/your/file.php';

if (file_exists($includedFile)) {
    include $includedFile;
} else {
    // Handle error or log it
}