There is this new cardiovascular risk calculator that has been developed to tell doctors if they should put someone on a statin drug or not. From what I have been reading, age trumps just about everything else in the calculation. Just out of curiosity, I found it and tried my information.
I was told that I have less than a one percent chance of having a heart attack in the next 10 years- which is fortunately too low to be prescribed a statin. But I was a little bit stunned. No where did they ask for my BMI. Doesn't that matter? Isn't that part of why I need to lose weight- so I don't drop dead of a heart attack? But all they wanted to know were my age, gender, cholesterol numbers, and blood pressure numbers. And that I don't smoke or have diabetes.
Of course they didn't ask if I have a mood disorder- which is a huge risk factor, perhaps as big a smoking. So I think my chance is really higher. Not to mention the meds which I don't think do good things. But to not ask about weight as a predictor- that was really surprising. I wonder if they are right. Of course there are so many other ways that being overweight is bad for you- even if it doesn't give me a heart attack.
No comments:
Post a Comment