Lifetime Risk Of A Heart Attack – An Example

Take a 45-year-old female with high LDL cholesterol (155 mg/dl), overweight and with high blood pressure (134 mmHg) and has a family history of heart disease. Not extreme values and not an unusual patient.

That person’s lifetime risk of a heart attack is 32%.

But now let’s do what is necessary (lifestyle and/or medications) to lower this same person’s LDL-C (to 77 mg/dl) and systolic blood pressure to less than 120 mmHg. Not a difficult task.

Now the lifetime cardiovascular risk falls from 32% to 7.9%.

A huge reduction in risk. Something that everyone should want to do.

(source Dr Barrett)