Cardiorisk, the app that calculates the risk of heart attack and stroke 10 years in advance
High cholesterol affects 1 out of 2 Italians and even in the under 40s there are more and more cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes. But now the Italian Society of Cardiology has launched Cardiorisk, an app that allows you not only to calculate values but also to receive personalized advice. All the details
After the drug that with two injections a year promises to halve the levels of "bad" cholesterol (LDL), now comes an app that intervenes even earlier. It's called Cardiorisk and is able to calculate the risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart attack and stroke, up to 10 years earlier.
It was conceived by the Italian Society of Cardiology (Sic) with the Federation of Family Doctors (Fimmg), the Society of General Medicine (Simg) and the Federation of Italian Pharmacists Orders (Fofi) and can be downloaded free of charge from the website iltuocolesterolo.it .
WHAT IS CHOLESTEROL
As explained by Pasquale Perrone Filardi, president of Sic, scientific manager of the project and professor of cardiology at the Federico II University of Naples, "LDL cholesterol is a substance produced by the liver and present in the blood, necessary, among other things, to form cell membranes . However, by accumulating in the arteries, it can initiate inflammatory reactions that lead to the formation of atherosclerotic plaques which can then occlude the coronary and cerebral vessels, causing serious cardiovascular events".
HOW CARDIORISK WORKS
With the Cardiorisk app, anyone will be able to know if and how much they are in danger. An important weapon of prevention to also learn to put into practice good habits that allow you to reduce cholesterol and, consequently, the probability of cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks and strokes.
Cardiorisk, in fact, not only calculates cardiovascular risk by measuring 'bad' cholesterol but also provides indications on the best strategy to keep it under control.
AN APP TAILOR-MADE FOR EVERYONE
“The CardioRisk app […] is a very useful tool for becoming aware of one's degree of risk, also helping to insert the LDL cholesterol value in the context of one's clinical situation. In fact, there is no 'normal' LDL cholesterol but an optimal value to be achieved on the basis of one's personal condition”, Filardi said.
The app and the site, the experts explain, were created precisely to spread this new awareness of cardiovascular risk, which must be assessed on an individual basis and not simply by considering the value of cholesterol.
For Ciro Indolfi, former president of SIS and co-scientific manager of the project, Cardiorisk also has another great utility: "that of helping to interpret the results of blood chemistry analyzes (perhaps carried out in the pharmacy or in a laboratory) and to understand what they are the 'optimal' values or the 'pathological' values of cholesterol on the basis of the characteristics of the individual subject to recommend a more appropriate strategy”.
VALUES TO KEEP AN EYE ON
“Today we know that LDL cholesterol is the most important value to know and the lower the better, because it is closely connected to the danger of cardiovascular events,” Filardi recalled. “If total cholesterol is less than 200 mg/dL but LDL cholesterol is high, the danger is still high, while for every 40 mg/dL reduction in LDL cholesterol, the risk of heart attacks and strokes drops by 20%.
"With this data, people will be able to go to the general practitioner and specialist to agree with them on the most suitable lifestyle, the correct therapies and any checks to be done over time", observed Ovidio Brignoli, SIMG vice president.
AN IMPORTANT APP ALSO FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
The risk of cardiovascular events is not limited to people of a certain age, as Indolfi recalled, "unfortunately we are witnessing an increase in cardiovascular events in young people, even under the age of 40".
“Considering how much high cholesterol is a decisive element for cardiovascular risk, it is important that everyone knows their own values, from an early age also to bring out cases of familial hypercholesterolemia, a genetic predisposition to high cholesterol, in which the probability of heart attacks and stroke is very high,” he added.
THE ALLIANCE BETWEEN DIFFERENT PROFESSIONALS
2,000 cardiologists, 40,000 family doctors and 80,000 pharmacists gathered to combat high cholesterol, which today threatens the health of 1 out of 2 Italians, and to launch the project.
"We strongly believe in this alliance between cardiologists, general practitioners and pharmacists to improve the prevention and management of hypercholesterolemia, helping to reduce the impact of cardiovascular disease on the health of Italians and on costs for the NHS", concluded Andrea Mandelli, president of Fofi.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/cardiorisk-app-che-calcola-il-rischio-di-infarto-e-ictus-con-10-anni-di-anticipo/ on Tue, 14 Feb 2023 09:20:37 +0000.