– Released for World Heart Day, the app can help motivate people to take action to lower their risk of heart attack or stroke

ON the occasion of World Heart Day, celebrated each Sept. 29 (yesterday), the Pan American Health Organization/ World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) launched a new app for mobile devices and computers that calculates people’s risk of cardiovascular disease and can help motivate them to take steps to lower that risk.

The app is based on a WHO formula for estimating cardiovascular risk that is appropriate for most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. It lets healthcare workers and individual users calculate the probability of having a major cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or stroke, in the next 10 years.

“This tool helps healthcare professionals rapidly assess their patients’ situation and discuss strategies with them to lower their probability of experiencing one of these events,” said Dr. Pedro Ordúñez, PAHO/WHO Advisor on Cardiovascular Diseases.

“It is also designed to offer suggestions to people wishing to improve and monitor their cardiovascular status.” The tool is not meant to replace consultation with a physician, but it is user-friendly for non–health professionals as well.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide and in most countries of the Americas, where it kills some 1.6 million people each year. The main risk factors for cardiovascular disease are tobacco use, physical inactivity, and obesity. People with hypertension, diabetes, or high cholesterol are more likely to suffer a heart-related event.

Knowing one’s cardiovascular risk can motivate people to take steps to lower that risk, for example, by being more active, avoiding tobacco use, and consuming a healthy, low-salt diet rich in vegetables and fresh foods.

PAHO’s Cardiovascular Risk Calculator app, which can be downloaded free of charge, offers advice to modify habits that contribute to higher risk. It allows users to see how their cardiovascular risk would change if certain risk factors were modified. Six variables are used to calculate the probability of experiencing a cardiovascular event in the next 10 years: age, sex, blood pressure, cholesterol level, whether the user is a smoker, and whether he or she has diabetes. A result of 10% or less is considered low; a risk of over 40% is considered high.