http://www.myhealthcheckup.com

Heart disease is the #1 killer in most of the world. The main culprits causing heart attacks are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and diabetes. Most of these diseases are easily picked up during an annual physical with basic lab tests. But sometimes it’s very difficult for doctors to impress upon patients what the numbers mean.

Now, there’s a great free website at www.myhealthcheckup.com that inputs your basic doctor visit information (cholesterol tests results, blood pressure, weight) and shows you in a graph form your 10 year risk of heart disease. Even better, it compares you to an average risk person and also shows how you could lower your risk if you did certain things (like stopping smokng or losing 20 pounds). It also tells you your cardiovascular age — for example, a 41 year old high risk person may have a cardiovascular age of a much older, 45 year old man.

It’s an effective visual impression that hopefully will impress many people that they have many risk factors for heart disease — but they can do something about it. Check it out. Here’s a sample result below. You can click on the “full screen” icon in the lower right to get a better look.