Rating your risk.

You've had your cholesterol checked. You even know your HDL. You're eating less fat and salt. You're exercising. You're doing all you can to cut your risk of heart disease and stroke.

But just what is that risk?

Using 40 years of data Framingham Heart Study, the American Heart Association has created worksheets for health professionals to use to estimate their patients' risks of heart attack or stroke. We've adapted them so that you can estimate your risk. If you have any questions about whether a risk factor applies to you, or if you want to discuss the results, talk to your doctor.

As you fill out the worksheets, check the "Glossary," which explains risk factors that aren't self-evident (some apply to heart disease, some to stroke, and some to both).

Glossary

HDL Cholesterol - That's your "good" cholesterol.

SBP - Your systolic blood pressure (the higher of your two blood pressure numbers).

LVH - Has an electrocardiogram shown that you have left ventricular hypertrophy (an enlarged heart muscle)?

HYP RX - Do you take medication to lower your blood pressure?

CVD - Have you had any of these:

* heart attack?

* angina (chest pain during physical

activity)?

* unstable angina or coronary

insufficiency (the symptoms of a

heart attack, but math no increase in

the enzymes that signal heart muscle

damage)?

* intermittent claudication (severe

leg pain, usually upon exertion, that

results from an inadequate blood

supply)?

* congestive heart failure (symptoms

like breathlessness and severely

swollen ankles caused by the

heart's failure to pump enough

blood and oxygen)?

AF - Do you have a history of atrial fibrillation (irregular heart beats in the upper chambers of your heart)?

EXAMPLE FOR

HEART DISEASE RISK

A 54-year-old woman (8 points) with total cholesterol of 227 (2 points), HDL ("good") cholesterol of 52 (-1 point), and systolic blood pressure of 131 (2 points), who doesn't smoke (0 points), have diabetes (0 points) or have left ventricular hypertrophy (0 points), ends up with a total of 11 points.

According to the chart, she has a three percent chance of developing coronary heart disease within the next five years. Her risk over the next ten years is six percent compared to 8 percent for the average woman her age).

[TABULAR DATA OMITTED]

These charts were prepared with the help of William B Kannel, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Public Health and Ralph D'Agostino, Ph.D., Head, Department of Mathematics, both at Boston University; Keavan Anderson, Ph.D., Statistician, Centocor; Daniel McGee, Ph.D., Professor, Loyola University Medical Center.