Cardiovascular disease (CVD) encompasses all conditions of the heart and circulation. These include coronary heart disease (CHD), angina, heart attack, congenital heart disease and stroke.

CVD causes more than a quarter (around 160,000) of all deaths in the UK each year and there are an estimated seven million people living with the disease in the UK. The total cost of premature death, lost productivity, hospital treatment and prescriptions relating to CVD is estimated to be £19 billion each year.

A cardiovascular disease risk assessment is carried out using the online QRISK 2 calculator. Information about a patient’s age, sex, ethnicity, postcode, smoking status, family history, total cholesterol/high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol ratio, along with recent blood pressure and body mass index (BMI), are used in the assessment tool. This calculates a 10 year risk ratio of CVD.

Factors that increase cardiovascular risk include smoking, hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, being physically inactive, being overweight or obese, family history of heart disease, ethnic background, being male and increasing age. The risk of coronary heart disease increases with the more risk factors a patient has.