Home / Cardiovascular risk
How much risk
you carry today
The PREVENT equations, published by the American Heart Association in 2024, estimate the chance of a heart attack, stroke and heart failure over the next 10 and 30 years. They were the first to bring together, in a single calculation, the heart, the kidneys and metabolism, which is how these three systems actually behave.
It requires recent test results. If you do not have yours at hand, that is already the first useful piece of information on this page.
OptionalLipid panel: understand your cholesterol better
Fill in only what is on your lab report; anything missing does not block the rest. Total cholesterol and HDL come from the form above. This supports the conversation with your doctor and is not a diagnosis. Nothing leaves your browser.
The limits
What this calculation cannot see
It was built in the United States
6.5 million US adults. One of the optional variables of the full model is a social deprivation index indexed by US ZIP code. There is no equivalent here, so the calculation treats it as missing, as the official calculator does when no ZIP code is entered. Risk scores often need recalibration when moved to a different population: it works well for order of magnitude and for tracking your own trend over time; the absolute value calls for interpretation by someone who knows the case.
It does not know your history
Family history of a premature event, Lp(a), inflammation, sleep apnea, coronary calcium, visceral fat, lean mass: none of these goes into the risk calculation. The optional lipid panel shows some of these numbers, but it does not change the result. These are precisely the factors that most change the plan of care when the estimated risk falls in the intermediate zone.
It does not apply after an event
The equations were made for primary prevention: people aged 30 to 79 without known cardiovascular disease. Anyone who has already had a heart attack, stroke or revascularization is in a different risk category, and the plan of care is defined by another path.
Estimating is not treating
The number neither indicates nor rules out medication. That decision belongs to the doctor, with the complete tests, the physical exam and the person in front of them. This page exists so that the conversation starts better informed, not to replace it.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask before trusting a number like this
- 01
What exactly do these equations measure?
The estimated probability that a person will have a cardiovascular event (heart attack, stroke or heart failure) over the next 10 and 30 years. It is a population estimate applied to an individual: it describes what happens, on average, to people with a similar profile. It does not say what will happen to you.
- 02
Why do I need blood tests to use it?
Because without total cholesterol, HDL and kidney function the calculation does not exist. That is precisely the difference between a clinical estimate and an internet questionnaire: PREVENT was the first score to bring together the heart, the kidneys and metabolism, and that is where its precision comes from. Two tests are optional, the urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c); when available, they make the estimate more personal.
- 03
Does it apply to people outside the United States?
With a caveat. The equations were derived from 6.5 million US adults, and risk scores often need recalibration when applied to a different population. It works well for a sense of magnitude and for tracking your own trend over time; the absolute value calls for interpretation by a doctor who knows your case.
- 04
Is my data stored?
No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser, in JavaScript. Nothing is sent to the server, nothing is saved, and closing the tab erases everything. There is not even a network request when the result is calculated.
- 05
My result is high. What now?
A high estimated risk is not a diagnosis, and a low risk is not a clean bill of health. Both call for the same thing: an appointment in which someone looks at the whole picture, your history, a physical exam, your complete test results and whatever else is going on. Bring the result and the tests you used.
The source
Where this calculation comes from
Our own implementation of the equations published in Khan SS, Matsushita K, Sang Y, et al. Development and Validation of the American Heart Association's PREVENT Equations. Circulation. 2024;149(6):430-449.
Checked against the official American Heart Association calculator on September 11, 2026 and, since September 14, 2026, against 160 reference cases from the preventr package (MIT license), covering the models with UACR and HbA1c, kidney function below 60 and ages 32 to 78, with identical results to the first decimal place. The check is automatic and runs on every change to the code. Risk categories follow the 2025 and 2026 ACC/AHA guidelines cited by the official calculator.
For estimated LDL, the optional lipid panel uses the Sampson et al. equation (JAMA Cardiology, 2020;5(5):540-548), valid for triglycerides up to 800 mg/dL; for the atherogenic index of plasma, Dobiásová and Frohlich (Clinical Biochemistry, 2001); for the ApoB/ApoA-I ratio, the INTERHEART study (McQueen et al., Lancet, 2008); and, for Lp(a), the 2018 and 2026 ACC/AHA dyslipidemia guidelines. It supports the conversation with your doctor: it is not a diagnosis and does not set a treatment target.
PREVENT™ is a trademark of the American Heart Association. This page cites the scientific origin of the equations; it is not a product of, partnership with or version endorsed by the AHA, and responsibility for its content lies entirely with Serfaty Clínicas.