Risk Assessment Tool for Estimating Your 10-year Risk of Having a Heart Attack

Total cholesterol - Total cholesterol is the sum of all the cholesterol in your blood. The higher your total cholesterol, the greater your risk for heart disease. Here are the total values that matter to you:

• Less than 200 mg/dL – 'Desirable' level that puts you at lower risk for heart disease. A cholesterol level of 200 mg/dL or greater increases your risk.
• 200 to 239 mg/dL – 'Borderline-high.'
• 240 mg/dL and above – 'High' blood cholesterol. A person with this level has more than twice the risk of heart disease compared to someone whose cholesterol is below 200 mg/dL.

HDL cholesterol - High density lipoproteins (HDL) is the 'good' cholesterol. HDL carry cholesterol in the blood from other parts of the body back to the liver, which leads to its removal from the body. So HDL help keep cholesterol from building up in the walls of the arteries. Here are the HDL-Cholesterol Levels that matter to you:

• Less than 40 mg/dL – A major risk factor for heart disease
• 40 to 59 mg/dL – The higher your HDL, the better
• 60 mg/dL and above – An HDL of 60 mg/dL and above is considered protective against heart disease.

Smoker - Select yes if you have smoked any cigarettes in the past month.

Systolic blood pressure - Systolic blood pressure is the first number of your blood pressure reading. For example, if your reading is 120/80 (120 over 80), your systolic blood pressure is 120.

Total cholesterol - Total cholesterol values should be the average of at least two measurements obtained from lipoprotein analysis.

HDL cholesterol - HDL cholesterol values should be the average of at least two measurements obtained from lipoprotein analysis.

Smoker - The designation smoker means any cigarette smoking in the past month.

Systolic blood pressure - The blood pressure value used is that obtained at the time of assessment, regardless of whether the person is on antihypertensive therapy (treated hypertension carries residual risk).

More Information - Determining 10-year (short term) risk for developing CHD is carried out using Framingham risk scoring. The risk factors included in the Framingham calculation are age, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, treatment for hypertension, and cigarette smoking. Because of a larger database, Framingham estimates are more robust for total cholesterol than for LDL cholesterol. Note, however, that LDL cholesterol remains the primary target of therapy. The Framingham risk score gives estimates for hard CHD which includes myocardial infarction and coronary death.