Many of us may ponder if the fact/ or was told by someone we know that you’re at risk of heart attack.
Maybe someone recently passed in your family due heart attack, or you’re reaching a certain golden age number and been asked hey when was the last you had a health check up.
Probably even you yourself have wondered with the burning question/ thought-’’Am I at Risk?”
If so, what do I do next?
-Or, how do I exactly know where I stand/ at probability of a heart related illness- because I’m feeling fine as a horse.
Well just by Googling/ asking a friend/ even your doctor would result in an answer which is helpful. But what about those who want to check this out to themselves.
If you are within the age range of 30-79 with no previous history of heart illness or chest pain, no diabetes. There’s a method that can be used to estimate your 10 year risk of heart attack:
Age
The average percentage of heart attack for women in age range 45-49% is 2% whereas in men is 8%. And this value increases with age.
Sex
Men are at higher risk than a woman.
Smoker
This needs no further introduction.
Total cholesterol
Total cholesterol less than 200 mg/dl is considered in the safety net. Get a blood test done irrespective of your age.
HDL Cholesterol
Known as the good cholesterol. This type of cholesterol is rich in fish and eggs- they work like a lubricant oil in the circulatory system. So, fat is not entirely bad.
Systolic BP
It is the top value reading on your BP machine. The Stage 1 hypertension is when your blood pressure ranges from 130-139 systolic or 80-89 mm Hg diastolic. If this value is consistent for several days over 2 weeks, the diagnosis is definite and you’re at risk of a heart attack or stroke in months or years to come, if left untreated.
Blood pressure being treated with medicines.
This is taken into consideration as a part of the score- blood pressure is a dynamic entity. Anti-hypertensive medications are prescribed accordingly so that the value is within control for the entire day.
What’s MAGIC Scoring System Doctors Use?
The Framingham Risk Score; a gender-specific algorithm used by Doctors to estimate the 10-year cardiovascular risk of an individual.
It gives an estimate of the probability that a person will develop cardiovascular disease within 10 years.
Because it gives an indication of the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, it also indicates who is most likely to benefit from prevention. For this reason, cardiovascular risk scores are used to determine who should be offered preventive drugs such as drugs to lower blood pressure and drugs to lower cholesterol levels.
The Shocking Probability
Nearly 30% of coronary heart disease in both men and women were due to blood pressure levels that exceeded high normal (≥130/85 mmHg), showing that blood pressure management and monitoring is extremely vital both to cardiovascular health and prediction of outcomes.
What Should You Do Now?
The next step is obtaining the result of your cholesterol profile to fill in the blanks; to obtain your Framingham Risk Score
By using this calculator; it helps you to make decisions in regards to lifestyle modification and preventive medical treatment, and for medical education.
There’s Still A, BUT…?
Using the calculator definitely does not define the true answer. Importantly, it gives you a rough idea on deciding our next step of action towards your well being. The Framingham Risk Score predicts only future coronary heart disease (CHD) events, however, it does not predict future total cardiovascular events, meaning that it does not predict risk for stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA), and heart failure.
There are many other parameters/check-lists to be considered and to-tick-or-cross, deciding whether you need to be on medication or not. Keep in mind, we must consider the risk and benefit of medications tailored to your requirement.
This score was created by Dr. Peter W.F Wilson,is a professor of medicine in cardiology, researching metabolic and cardiovascular population issues, focusing on determinants of coronary artery diseases, including diabetes mellitus, hormonal factors, inflammatory markers, and genetics.
