The risk profile calculator for heart disease is a tool used by clinicians to determine a patient’s risk of having a cardiovascular event in the next ten years. Different cardiovascular disease calculators have different ages a patient has to attain to calculate their risk. Risk estimates are used to put patients into different categories and determine which medication and lifestyle changes are best suited for them. To use the cardiovascular risk calculator, you should n’t have had a cardiovascular event before. Your heart age is a great factor in determining your risk estimate. Lifestyle choices like exercising and eating healthy determine whether or not you end up with a young heart.
How the Cardiovascular Disease Calculator Works
There are many different calculators available as at now. You can calculate your risk of having the risk of having a cardiovascular attack by taking a test; on the internet or at a clinic with the help of a clinician. You can either fill a form or have your test triangulated on a graph. There are different guideline used in calculating your risk estimate. Some of the factors used in the calculation include;
• Your gender
• Your age
• Whether or not you are a smoker
• If you have diabetes or not
• Your total cholesterol
If the calculation results show that you are at high risk of cardiovascular disease, it is advisable that you have a change in lifestyle and begin to take prevention medication. Different cardiovascular disease calculators have different ages they can work with beginning in 20 years, 30 years and 40 years.
Benefits these Calculators
The primary purpose of these risk assessment tools is to determine the percentage risk of a patient in suffering a cardiovascular disease and suggest the best medication for them. Primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases helps curb under treatment of such diseases. More often than not, risk factors are overlooked until it is too late. Having a calculator that determines your risk, helps you take precautions before it is too late. Typically, a 20% risk estimate from a patient shows that this person is at high risk of having a cardiovascular disease in the next ten years. Anyone with below 7.5% has a low-risk patient. Therapies should be undertaken by people whose results show they are at high risk of having heart diseases or have had a stroke or LDL cholesterol. They include;-
• Lipid-lowering medication
• Anti-hypertensive therapies
• Anti-thrombotic therapies
• Aspirin and statin therapies
These therapies work to lower cholesterol, reduce body inflammation, and lower your chances of suffering from stroke or heart arrhythmias.
Conclusion
Heart diseases have been under-treated for a long time. The introduction of the cardiovascular disease calculator has helped in determining the risk to patients and acting accordingly. Clinicians benefit from this tool as they can predict heart diseases and prevent them before they happen.