Know and Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease
5 quick questions that could change your life.
Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of American women. Most women do not realize that heart disease is their most serious health threat, and many more do not know how to recognize symptoms of a serious heart condition or heart attack. You can help change this by taking Live Red’s heart risk assessment and by learning more about how symptoms of heart attack differ in men and women.
Users are encouraged to confirm the information contained herein with other sources. Moreover, any health care advice offered is ONLY general health care advice, not advice to a specific person based on a specific patient’s condition. The advice is intended to provide only a general basis for a person to discuss their personal medical condition with their health care provider. The information is not intended to replace medical advice offered by physicians. Persons suffering from specific health care problems are strongly urged to directly consult their personal health care provider.
Risk assessment model based on the Framingham Heart Study
What is your age?
RISK FACTOR 1: Your age can affect your risk for heart disease. After menopause, women are more likely to get heart disease, in part because their body’s production of estrogen drops. Women who have gone through early menopause, either naturally or because they have had a hysterectomy, are twice as likely to develop heart disease as women of the same age who have not yet gone through menopause.
Risk assessment model based on the Framingham Heart Study
Do you smoke?
RISK FACTOR 2: If you smoke, quit. Your health care provider can tell you about effective treatments that can help you control the urge to smoke. It's never too late to stop. Women who smoke are two to six times more likely to suffer a heart attack than nonsmoking women. Smoking also boosts the risk of stroke and cancer. Smoking is a particular problem for women, as it is a factor in a majority of heart attacks in women under the age of 45 and is a significant multiplier of risk in women with family histories of heart disease. And birth control pills make things even worse—the combination of smoking and birth control pills increases the risk of early heart disease by 20-fold.
Risk assessment model based on the Framingham Heart Study
Do you have diabetes or do you need medicine to control your blood sugar?
RISK FACTOR 3: The incidence of diabetes is growing, particularly among women, right along with one of its root causes: obesity. Diabetes should be thought of as a disease of blood vessels as much as a disease of sugar metabolism, as it greatly increases cardiovascular risk. The risk of heart disease in women with diabetes is increased as much as 6-fold.
Risk assessment model based on the Framingham Heart Study
What is your blood pressure?
RISK FACTOR 4: Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. It is common in women over 55. Exercise and diet can play a big role in reducing blood pressure levels. Effective medicines are also available.
If you aren't sure of your blood pressure, you should contact your primary care physician to find out. Knowing your numbers is an important first step in understanding your personal risk factors for heart disease.
Risk assessment model based on the Framingham Heart Study
RISK FACTOR 5: Cholesterol abnormalities greatly increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. Low HDL levels are a more important risk factor in women than in men. Evidence is mounting that achieving very low LDL levels, and/or substantially raising HDL levels, can actually halt or reverse coronary artery disease. In many women, cholesterol can be controlled with diet and exercise, but often drug therapy with statins or other medicine is also needed. Blood cholesterol is very specific to each individual, and so a full lipid profile is an important part of your medical history and important information for your physician to have.
If you aren't sure of your cholesterol, you should contact your primary care physician to find out. Knowing your numbers is an important first step in understanding your personal risk factors for heart disease.
Risk assessment model based on the Framingham Heart Study
Results
Congratulations on taking the first step toward improving your heart health…and living red. Live Red has plenty of information about these and other risk factors that affect your heart health—and how to manage them. Learn as much as you can, and discuss with your physician on your next visit. Learn More >>
Join Club Red™
Club Red is a free heart health club for women focused on giving women the information, tools and support they need to get—and stay—heart healthy. Membership includes heart health e-newsletters, invitations to special events, interviews with UVA doctors, nutritionists and exercise physiologists, and a welcome gift package guaranteed to get you living red in style. Join Now >>
Get Help...If You Need It
If you have heart disease or are worried about your risk factors, the UVA Heart and Vascular Center can design a program just for you. A whole team of professionals—including dietitians, physical therapists, cardiovascular nurses and doctors—can help you treat your heart and reduce your risk. Learn More >>
Your results for this risk assessment are based on your responses to our questions. If you feel your results are incorrect, take the assessment again, and double check your response for each question. If you still have questions about your results, your physician can help you understand how your risk factors impact your short- and long-term heart health.
Risk assessment model based on the Framingham Heart Study
Your Heart Assessment Results
Your risk for developing heart disease within the next 10 years is: XXX
Your risk for developing heart disease is approximately XXX times that of a woman your age with low risk factors.
Your Heart Assessment Response Recap
- What is your age? X0
- Do you smoke? X1
- Do you have diabetes or do you need medicine to control your blood sugar? X2
- What is your blood pressure? systolic X3 diastolic: X4
- What is your total cholesterol? X5 HDL or good cholesterol? X6
Congratulations on taking the first step toward improving your heart health…and living red. Live Red has plenty of information about these and other risk factors that affect your heart health—and how to manage them. Learn as much as you can, and discuss with your physician on your next visit.
Join Club Red™
Club Red is a free heart health club for women focused on giving women the information, tools and support they need to get—and stay—heart healthy. Membership includes heart health e-newsletters, invitations to special events, interviews with UVA doctors, nutritionists and exercise physiologists, and a welcome gift package guaranteed to get you living red in style.
Get Help...If You Need It
If you have heart disease or are worried about your risk factors, the UVA Heart and Vascular Center can design a program just for you. A whole team of professionals—including dietitians, physical therapists, cardiovascular nurses and doctors—can help you treat your heart and reduce your risk. Learn more by visiting www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/heart/ or call 434-924-3627.
