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AAccording to a new study, most heart attacks and strokes in ten could be avoided if follow-up exams were for high-risk patients.
People aged 40 and over in England and Wales are currently eligible for a cardiac health badessment every five years.
Blood pressure, cholesterol levels, blood sugar levels, smoking status, age, and family history are factors that physicians consider when they determine the risk of 39, heart attack or stroke.
Higher risk patients may change their lifestyle or take medication to reduce their level of risk.
Scientists at University College London found that low-risk patients received checks too often, while high-risk patients did not receive enough.
They believe that a personalized approach rather than "one-size-fits-all" could save lives without costing the NHS more money.
Their research, published in Lancet Public Health, involved to monitor 7,000 people and how long they spent in low, medium-low, medium-high and high risk categories.
While low-risk patients took an average of nine years to become a low-risk intermediate, 70% of high-risk patients took only four years to become high-risk and needed treatment.
Scientists say that screening for patients at intermediate-high risk each year, intermediate-low risk every four years and low-risk patients every seven years would cost the same price as the current system.
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