The scoring system used to predict a person’s risk of cardiovascular disease needs to get an upgrade to ensure it accounts for risk factors specifically affecting women, according to a study published today in the journal Frontiers in Physiology.
The Framingham Risk Score (FRS) analyzes six factorsTrusted Source to determine a person’s likelihood of experiencing a heart attack or stroke within the next 10 years. The six factors are age, gender, diabetes, cholesterol, smoking habits, and blood pressure.
While the system does account for gender, researchers say it has never considered the more specific factors within the female body that significantly affect their risk of heart attack or stroke.
“Anatomically, female and male hearts are different,” the study authors wrote. “For example, female hearts are smaller and have thinner walls. Yet, the diagnostic criteria for certain heart diseases are the same for women and men, meaning that women’s hearts must increase disproportionally more than men’s before the same risk criteria are met.”
