What Is Your
Cardiovascular Risk?
How to identify your risk before an emergency occurs
A cardiovascular emergency may seem like a sudden event, but the risks leading up to it can begin to build years earlier. That’s why cardiovascular prevention isn’t only about reacting when a problem occurs, it means knowing your risk factors, understanding how they may interact with one another, and monitoring your health so you can act before an event occurs.
As Dr. Clara Inés Saldarriaga Giraldo, head of the Medellin’s Cardiology Program at Clínica Cardio VID, explains, an appropriate strategy for detecting and controlling risk factors helps to prevent life-changing consequences of cardiovascular disease.
Take a moment to learn about the factors that can increase your cardiovascular risk and how early identification can make an important difference.
What Factors Increase Your Cardiovascular Risk?
A risk factor is a characteristic or condition that increases the likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease. Some are related to genetics or family history, while others can develop or change throughout life. In many cases, risk is not determined by a single factor, but by a combination of several.
The main cardiovascular risk factors include:
❂ High blood pressure
❂ High cholesterol, especially LDL cholesterol
❂ Diabetes
❂ Smoking
❂ Excess adiposity (having too much body fat)
❂ Physical inactivity
❂ Chronic kidney disease
❂ Age
❂ Family history of premature cardiovascular disease
For example, a person may have an inherited predisposition to high cholesterol and, over the years, develop additional factors such as high blood pressure, excess stored body fat or physical inactivity. This accumulation matters because the length of time a person is exposed to risk factors also affects cardiovascular health.
While knowing these factors is important, it is not enough. Preventive medical checkups make it possible to assess your overall health and identify risk factors that may otherwise go unnoticed. To truly understand your cardiovascular risk, it’s also necessary to evaluate how these factors interact and what other elements may impact your risk.
How Is Cardiovascular Risk Calculated?
Current cardiovascular prevention focuses on determining a person’s overall risk rather than looking at blood pressure, cholesterol or any other isolated indicator.
As Dr. Saldarriaga explains, one tool used for this purpose is the PREVENT equation, which estimates cardiovascular risk in people ages 30 to 79 who have not previously experienced a cardiovascular event.
This assessment considers several factors, including:
❂ Age and sex
❂ Blood pressure
❂ Lipid profile
❂ Body mass index
❂ Smoking
❂ Treatment for hypertension
❂ Treatment for hyperlipidemia
❂ Glycated hemoglobin, when diabetes is present
❂ Kidney function
❂ Urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio
This information helps estimate the risk of experiencing a cardiovascular event, stroke, or developing heart failure over the next 10 years. The result helps healthcare professionals determine how intensive a person’s prevention strategy should be.
If a person has already had a heart attack or stroke, the situation is different: they are considered to already have elevated cardiovascular risk and require specific medical management.
What If Your Risk Doesn’t Seem That High?
An initial assessment doesn’t always tell the whole story. Some conditions can increase cardiovascular risk and make more intensive follow-up necessary.
These include certain chronic inflammatory diseases, elevated lipoprotein(a) levels, specific inflammatory markers, the combination of diabetes and kidney disease, and certain pregnancy-related factors, such as hypertension or diabetes during pregnancy.
In certain patients, a coronary artery calcium score may also be used as a tool to reclassify risk. This test can identify calcium in the coronary arteries and provide additional information to guide prevention decisions.
The large number of contributing factors is why cardiovascular prevention should be personalized. Not everyone needs the same tests or the same level of follow-up.
Cardiovascular Risk Changes Throughout Life
Cardiovascular prevention shouldn’t begin only when symptoms appear or be limited to a particular age. Risk can change over time as new factors emerge.
In men, cardiovascular risk begins to rise more significantly around age 40. In women, the transition to menopause is an especially important time to reassess risk. Declining estrogen levels may be accompanied by changes in body composition, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and other factors.
Family history may also justify an earlier assessment. For example, when there is a significant family history of high cholesterol or premature cardiovascular disease, follow-up may begin at younger age.
The length of time a person is exposed to risk factors must also be taken into consideration. Controlling them during a longer time period may help reduce their cumulative impact on cardiovascular health.
What Can You Do to Protect Your Cardiovascular Health?
Knowing your risk is the first step. The next goal is to take action on the factors that can be modified.
A healthy diet, physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight, effective stress management, good sleep quality, and avoiding tobacco are all part of a comprehensive prevention strategy. It is also important to know your key health indicators and keep up with regular checkups.
Prevention should also begin before disease develops. When there is a relevant family history, some assessments can be performed at an early age to identify factors that require monitoring.
Prevention Also Means Access to Specialized Care
Knowing your cardiovascular risk is important, but so is knowing where to turn and having access to the right specialists if a condition requiring care is identified.
This is where international health insurance can provide value that goes beyond emergency coverage. With VUMI®, you have access to preventive medical checkups, specialists, and internationally recognized medical centers, as well as services such as Medical Second Opinion with international experts.
If a cardiovascular disease develops requiring specialized treatment, access to an international network can facilitate care from renowned cardiac professionals and centers. VUMI® also offers services designed for emergency situations, including emergency medical transportation.
(Also read “Heart Attack: Why Every Minute Matters”)
Prevention and specialized care are part of the same strategy: identifying risks before they become serious problems and having support when action is indicated.
Know Your Risk Before an Emergency Happens
A cardiovascular emergency can happen suddenly, but taking care of your heart should begin long before.
Knowing your blood pressure, cholesterol levels, family history, and other risk factors gives you a more complete picture of your health. Based on this information, a healthcare professional can determine whether you need additional monitoring or a more intensive prevention strategy.
Taking care of your heart isn’t only about knowing what to do when an emergency happens—it’s also about staying ahead of it.
