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Prediction Is Difficult, Particularly About the Future
Rod Jackson, MBChB, PhD;
Sue Wells, MBChB, MPH
Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(21):2286-2287.
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| Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings. |
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There is a substantial evidence base justifying why physicians (and patients) should manage cardiovascular risk rather than cardiovascular risk factors.1 The distinction is far more than a subtle difference in wording; cardiovascular risk factors are individually poor predictors of a patient's risk of a cardiovascular event, the only outcome that matters to patients. For most patients, their actual blood cholesterol level or blood pressure becomes clinically meaningful only when considered in combination with other risk factors and when the cardiovascular risk is calculated.2
Cardiovascular risk management decisions, whether pharmacologic or nonpharmacologic, should be determined primarily by the potential to benefit, which is directly proportional to the magnitude of a patient's predicted cardiovascular risk before treatment. A 60-year-old male smoker with a blood pressure of 150/90 mm Hg, a total cholesterol level of 200 mg/dL (to convert to millimoles per liter, multiply by . . . [Full Text of this Article] AUTHOR INFORMATION
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Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(21):2296-2303.
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