When the cardiovascular risk is a patient at the doctor's office and asks if it should take care to prevent cerebrovascular accidents (see vascular patient), the doctor applies a method of risk calculation that uses a card.

This risk assessment tool should be administered:

every six months for people at high cardiovascular risk (risk greater than or equal to 20%, as derived from the paper)

each year for people at risk should be controlled by adopting a healthy lifestyle (risk greater than or equal to 5% and less than 20%)

every 5 years for people with low cardiovascular risk (risk less than 5%).

The cardiovascular risk chart is the doctor to estimate the probability of experiencing a first major cardiovascular event (myocardial infarction or stroke) in 10 years, knowing some parameters of the patient, and that the following risk factors:

sex because the risk is different if you are referring to male or female

diabetes, that is if this disease is present or not, even if there is to say that the patient with diabetes may be more or less time, so that complications will be different. Diabetes is expressed in two categories, non-diabetic and diabetic, is referred to the diabetic person who has at least 2 successive measurements within a week, fasting blood glucose less than 126 mg / dl or is subjected to treatment with oral hypoglycemic agents or insulin, or submit personal medical history of diabetes

smoking

age should be between 40 and 69 years of age, and considered in decades, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69.

systolic blood pressure, which if greater than 200 mmHg for systolic, then it is not possible to apply these risk charts.

Cholesterol, if that is greater than 320 mg / dl or less than 130 mg / dl, then it is not possible to apply these risk charts. In addition, the levy must be recent, the most performed three months earlier.


How to use the card?

Meanwhile, the doctor must choose the right card, that is related to the type of patient.

The types of patient:

diabetic man

diabetic man

diabetic woman

non-diabetic women

For each of these four categories the cards are broken down again for further risk:

in smokers (smoking is defined as those who smoke regularly every day (even one cigarette) or stopped less than 12 months)

Non-smoking.
.

Finally, it should choose the card that corresponds to the age and you stand in the box in which the falling value of serum cholesterol and blood pressure. Then we evaluate the color of the box, which varies from light green to dark green, yellow, ocher, red and purple, in ascending order, ie from lower risk than major (viola), risk is expressed in six categories of CVD risk (I to VI): The category of CVD risk indicates how many 100 people with those same characteristics are expected to fall ill in the next 10 years.


The risk factors considered are:

Systolic blood pressure expressed in mmHg, represents the systolic pressure as the average of two consecutive measurements performed according to standard methodology. It is divided into four categories:

equal to or greater than 90 mmHg and less than 130 mmHg

equal to or greater than 130 mmHg and less than 150 mmHg

equal to or greater than 150 mmHg and less than 170 mmHg

less than 170 mmHg and less than or equal to 200 mm Hg.

For people who have the value of systolic blood pressure above 200 mmHg or less than 90 mmHg can not use the card for the risk assessment

The cholesterol in mg / dl, is divided into five ranges:

equal to or greater than 130 mg / dl and less than 174 mg / dl

less than 174 mg / dl and less than 213 mg / dl

less than 213 mg / dl and less than 252 mg / dl

less than 252 mg / dl and less than 291 mg / dl

less than 291 mg / dl and less than or equal to 320 mg / dl.

For people who have the value of total cholesterol greater than 320 mg / dl or less than 130 mg / dl you can not use the card for the risk assessment.

CV risk chart for diabetic women

paper CV risk for women without diabetes

CV risk chart for men with diabetes

CV risk chart for men without diabetes

>>>see first page

>>>see also RICERCA