Use the free ACC AHA Risk Calculator on ToolVexa for a simple, educational estimate of heart risk factors. Enter your age, cholesterol, blood pressure and other factors, press Calculate, and your simplified score appears straight away.
How to Use
Enter your age, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and systolic blood pressure, then choose whether you smoke and whether you have diabetes. Press Calculate to see a points score and an estimated percentage.
Formula in Plain Words
Points are added for higher age, higher total cholesterol, low HDL, higher systolic blood pressure, smoking and diabetes. In this simplified version, age 60 or older adds 2 points and age 50 to 59 adds 1, cholesterol 240 or higher adds 2 and 200 to 239 adds 1, HDL below 40 adds 1, systolic pressure 140 or higher adds 2 and 120 to 139 adds 1, and smoking or diabetes each add 2. The estimated risk is the points total times 2%.
Worked Example
For age 55, total cholesterol 220, HDL 45, systolic pressure 130, a non-smoker without diabetes, the points are 1 for age, 1 for cholesterol, 0 for HDL, 1 for blood pressure, 0 for smoking and 0 for diabetes, which is 3 points in total. Multiplying 3 by 2% gives an estimated risk of about 6%.
FAQs
Is this the official clinical ACC/AHA result?
No. This is a simplified educational calculator. A clinician uses the full clinical equations and your full history, so talk to a clinician for a personal risk assessment.
Why does smoking add points?
Smoking is a strong risk factor for heart disease, so in this simplified score it adds 2 points, the same as diabetes.
What should I do with a high score?
Use it as a prompt to discuss blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking and other factors with a clinician. Do not start, stop or change treatment from this estimate alone.