Small heart health problems lead to great lifetime risk

A greater number of men and women may be in need of a prescription to buy Plavix than previously believed, as a new study indicates that people with few short-term risk factors for heart attack and stroke may have a high risk over the long term.

Researchers from Northwestern University said that a person's cardiovascular risk is generally calculated for up to 10 years in the future. However, people who have only a small chance of suffering a heart attack or stroke within this time period may still face a high risk over their entire lifetime.

In order to come to this conclusion, the team tracked the health records of more than 250,000 individuals over a 50-year period. The results showed that some participants who had slightly elevated cholesterol or blood pressure levels at the beginning of the study experienced a heart attack or stroke at some point, even if their risk factors were minor enough to constitute only a small short-term threat.

"We are giving incomplete and misleading risk information if we only focus on the next 10 years of someone's life," said Donald Lloyd-Jones, who led the study. "With even just one risk factor, the likelihood is very large that someone will develop a major cardiovascular event that will kill them or substantially diminish their quality of life or health."