Charts enable physicians to evaluate death risk
15 years, 10 months ago
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Posted on Jun 10, 2008, 8 p.m.
By Jeanelle Topping
New risk charts, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, will allow anti-aging physicians in the US to assess a patient's risk of dying from a particular cause over the next decade.
New risk charts, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, will allow anti-aging physicians in the US to assess a patient's risk of dying from a particular cause over the next decade.
In order to improve physicians' ability to gauge an individual's risk of death from one condition compared to another, researchers have compiled charts based on national health statistics.
The authors stated: "The risk charts provide two basic elements that people need if they are to make sense of the health threats they face: the magnitude of the risk and some context.
"We hope that the availability of these simple charts will facilitate physician–patient discussion about disease risk and help people understand where to focus risk reduction efforts."
Figures suggest that for a man who has never smoked, the risk of dying from heart disease at any age exceeds the risk of dying from lung, colon, and prostate cancer combined.
For women who have never smoked, the chances of dying from heart disease and breast cancer are similar until the age of 60.
