Primary Care

In general, the higher your LDL level and the more risk factors you have (other than LDL), the greater your chances of developing heart disease or having a heart attack. Some people are at high risk for a heart attack because they already have heart disease. Other people are at high risk for developing heart disease because they have diabetes (which is a strong risk factor) or a combination of risk factors for heart disease. Follow these steps to find out your risk for developing heart disease.

Step 1

Check the table below to see how many of the listed risk factors you have; these are the risk factors that affect your LDL goal.

* Even though obesity and physical inactivity are not counted in this list, they are conditions that need to be corrected.

Step 2

My 10-year risk score is _____________________%

How many major risk factors do you have? If you have 2 or more risk factors in the table below left, use the risk scoring tables on the back page (which include your cholesterol levels) to find your risk score. Risk score refers to the chance of having a heart attack in the next 10 years, given as a percentage. (Use the Framingham Point Scores)

Step 3

My risk category is _________________________ .

Use your medical history, number of risk factors, and risk score to find your risk of developing heart disease or having a heart attack in the table below.

*Means that more than 20 of 100 people in this category will have a heart attack within 10 years.

* To reduce your risk for heart disease or keep it low, it is very important to control any other risk factors you may have such as high blood pressure and smoking.