Doctors May Be Wrong About Heart Attack Risks

A common method to calculate heart attack risks may be wrong, according to a new study in the Annals of Family Medicine. The findings might mean that doctors are basing their treatment decisions on inaccurate numbers, and potentially exposing patients to unnecessary treatment.

Researchers found that the method grossly overestimated the amount of heart attacks in Spaniards, while a newer technique underestimated them. Doctors worldwide use the Framingham equation, a data set from a government-led study begun in 1948, in order to assess patient risk for heart attack.

But the Framingham equation was found to be off, predicting that 12 percent of 447 patients would suffer a heart attack when only seven percent did. Even a newer version of the Framingham equation developed specifically for use in Spain was off, predicting an overall risk of four percent. Some people who were not labeled “high-risk” for a heart attack suffered one anyway.

Patients found to be at risk for a heart attack are often prescribed cholesterol-lowering statins and high blood pressure medications. Several major factors that can help predict a healthy person’s chance of suffering a heart attack, including age, gender, cholesterol, blood pressure and whether or not that person smokes.

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