Risks Factors for Heart Disease – Women Check Your Odds
Many women tend to be more concerned about cancer, especially breast cancer or cervix, than coronary heart disease. Appropriate screening for cancer is very important, but every year more than five times as many women die from coronary disease than from breast and cervical cancer combined.
Needless to say, coronary heart disease isn’t just a “guy thing”.
The most common culprit for a stroke or heart attack is atherosclerosis, a process that damages and obstructs the arteries. If an artery suddenly closes, the results are usually dramatic and often catastrophic. Because of this potential for instantaneous catastrophe and because cardiologists now can perform interventions that preserve heart muscle if action is taken quickly enough, it is imperative that if you fell chest discomfort you seek immediate medical attention.
Numerous risk factors can lead to a sudden heart attack or stroke, and it is vitally important you identify any that could potentially threaten your health and shorten your life. Keep in mind that there are degrees of severity for many of these. Furthermore, the risk factors compound one another. In other words, the total risk may be worse than the sum of its various parts.
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WHAT ARE THE ODDS? – FOR WOMEN How to calculate your chances of developing coronary heart disease To get an idea of your risk of developing coronary heart disease over the next 10 years, use the Framingham Point Scores system below. |
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| Select your age Circle your points |
Select your HDL level Circle your points |
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| AGE | POINTS | HDL | |
| 20-34 | -7 | ≥60 | -1 |
| 35-39 | -3 | 50-59 | 0 |
| 40-44 | 0 | 40-49 | 1 |
| 45-49 | 3 | <40 | 2 |
| 50-54 | 6 | ||
| 55-59 | 8 | ||
| 60-64 | 10 | ||
| 65-69 | 12 | ||
| 70-74 | 14 | ||
| 75-79 | 16 | ||
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Select your systolic level |
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| SYSTOLIC BP | UNTREATED | TREATED |
| <120 | 0 | 0 |
| 120-129 | 1 | 3 |
| 130-139 | 2 | 4 |
| 140-159 | 3 | 5 |
| ≥160 | 4 | 6 |
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Notice that you get more points (and thus have a higher risk) for a given blood pressure level that is treated, rather than untreated. This is because it is assumed that your pressure before treatment was higher, which carries some added residual risk. |
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Select your cholesterol level. Circle your points depending upon your age |
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| POINTS (by age) | |||||
| TOTAL CHOLESTERO | 20-39 | 40-49 | 50-59 | 60-69 | 70-79 |
| <160 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 160-199 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 200-239 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 240-279 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| ≥280 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 2 |
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Circle your points Determine your risk of getting coronary heart disease |
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| TOTAL POINTS | 10-YEAR RISK % | TOTAL POINTS | 10-YEAR RISK % | TOTAL POINTS | 10-YEAR RISK % |
| <9 | <1 | 14 | 2 | 20 | 11 |
| 9 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 21 | 14 |
| 10 | 1 | 16 | 4 | 22 | 17 |
| 11 | 1 | 17 | 5 | 23 | 22 |
| 12 | 1 | 18 | 6 | 24 | 27 |
| 13 | 2 | 19 | 8 | ≥25 | ≥30 |
Source: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, a part of the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Final word
If your 10-year risk for coronary disease is 20 percent or more, you should talk with your doctor about lowering your LDL cholesterol to 100 mg/dl or less, the same goal recommended for people who have diabetes or who have already had a heart attack.
To your health!
Emilia Klapp, R.D., B.S.
www.TheDiabetesClub.com
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Posted on Feb 22, 2011
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