Heart diseases remain one of the biggest killers globally, yet most people remain unsuspected about its risk.
So how do doctors calculate a person risk of heart disease? According to ABC News, "There's a number of factors that you've got to take into account ... all at the same time," said Professor Anthony Rodgers from the George Institute for Global Health, Australia.
"The leading ones are your age, your sex, what your blood pressure is, what your level of cholesterol is, whether you smoke and whether you've got diabetes," said Rogers.
In addition to questions regarding your lifestyle, the physician then takes your blood pressure and order a blood test to check your cholesterol, and whether you are diabetic. The data is then fed into an online calculator, which calculates your risk of having a stroke or a heart attack over the next five years, in percentage.
Lastly, the figure generated is called the "absolute risk score," as referred by doctors.
"Once you've got your risk estimated, the doctor will tend to think about it in categories and in general, they will regard over 15 per cent over five years as a high risk," Professor Rodgers said.
Whereas, figure between 10 -15pc puts you on the moderate risk category, while less than 10pc puts you in the low risk category.
Coming to how to keep your heart disease free, Professor Rodgers said, "Three quarters of heart disease or stroke is due to high levels of blood pressure or cholesterol or to smoking."
Therefore, changes to diet, physical activity levels and smoking status can all have a big impact play a big role in terms of your risk of having a stroke or a heart attack in the future.
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