Determine YOUR Risk of a Heart Attack

Seeing is Believing...

This HeartScreen heart attack risk factor test will help you identify and understand your own risk factors for coronary heart disease, and guide you in dealing with them. It will also approximate your relative risk and will help you identify areas that you may want to work on.

Instructions:

In this test, eight modifiable risk factors for a heart attack are listed, and scores from 1 to 8 are assigned to each factor.

For each of the 8 risk factors in Table 1, read across the row horizontally until you find the column that applies to you.
Select the numeric value in the lime green row that applies to the column you are in.
Place the numeric value in the same risk factor row of Table 2.
After evaluating all 8 risk factors, tally your score in Table 2.
Under the Value column of Table 3, select the row that corresponds to the sum of the risks you determined in Table 2.
Read the Range and Description comment that applies to your value. This is your approximate risk of heart attack and stroke!

Table 1. HeartScreen Self Scoring Test of Heart Attack and Stroke Risk
Risk Factor	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1. Cholesterol* (mg%)	under 160	160-179	180-199	200-219	220-239	240-259	260-279	280-299	300 plus
2. Blood Pressure* (mmHg)	under 110	110-119	120-129	130-139	140-159	160 plus
3. Smoking (cig./day)	none	up to 5	5-9	10-19	20-29	30+
4. Overweight^ (in %)	0-4%	5-9%	10-14%	15-19%	20-29%	30%+
5. Triglycerides* (mg%)	under 100	100-149	150-249	250-349	350+
6. Diabetes (duration)	None	under 5 yrs	5-10 years	10+ years
7. Resting Pulse (beats/min.)	under 56	56-62	63-69	70-80	80+
8. Stress/Tense	Rarely tense	Tense 3x/wk	Tense 2-3/day	Tense and rushed	on tran-quilizers
* To determine your cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure, just see your physician. The blood test is very simple and inexpensive, and takes about five minutes. What you learn may save your life! If you take blood pressure pills, score four points regardless of your blood pressure level.				^To determine your percentage of overweight, look up your ideal weight, take its midpoint, and subtract it from your actual weight. Divide the difference in pounds by your ideal weight and multiply by 100. Click on ideal weight page to review the definition of ideal weight. Also, see the ideal weight application page.

Table 2. Totaling Your 8 Factors of Heart Attack Risk
Risk Factor from Table 1	Score
1. Cholesterol	____
2. Blood Pressure	____
3. Smoking	____
4. Overweight	____
5. Triglycerides	____
6. Diabetes	____
7. Pulse	____
8. Stress	____
Total Score:	____

Table 3. HeartScreen: Interpreting Your Score
Value	Your Range	Description/Comment
0-6	IDEAL	Development of heart disease, heart attack, or stroke is extremely unlikely, especially if your cholesterol level is below 160.
7-14	ELEVATED	The development of heart disease or stroke is about one third of the U.S. average, yet three times higher than for the ideal group.
15-22	HIGH RISK	This is the average. You cannot afford to be average, because your risk of a heart attack is 10 times higher than the ideal group.
23-30	VERY HIGH RISK	The development of heart disease and stroke is about three times the U.S. average, or 30 times higher than the ideal group. Action is imperative! You may be able to drop four points on this test within four to eight weeks by lowering cholesterol and blood pressure through dietary change.
31 -38	DANGEROUS	The likelihood of having a heart attack or stroke is about four to six times the U.S. average and about 50 times higher than the ideal group. Set goals and take action without delay!

Contact CHIP to learn more. "Be Healthy by Choice, Not by Chance!"

For more information, we recommend:

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease
By Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MD, Cleveland Clinic; Avery/Penguin Group, 2007

Based on the groundbreaking results of his 20-year nutritional study, Dr. Esselstyn explains, with irrefutable scientific evidence, how we can end the heart disease epidemic in this country by changing what we eat. Click for more...