Q. What is a disease risk assessment?
A. It’s a scientific tool that uses quantitative data on health risk factors (like age, weight, cholesterol and glucose levels, family history of disease, etc.) to calculate a person’s risk of getting certain diseases/conditions.
Q. What is Life Line Screening’s disease risk assessment?
A. Our disease risk assessment, called the Disease Prevention Scorecard, is a powerful predictive model based on more than 100 major clinical studies and validated by Duke University. It predicts your 5-year risk for the onset of 6 chronic diseases—heart disease; stroke; type 2 diabetes; congestive heart failure; and if you smoke, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and lung cancer. It shows how your risks compare to others of the same age and gender, and what percentage of your risks you can control or modify. Most important, it helps identify what steps you can take to reduce your risks and improve your health.
Q. What makes Life Line Screening’s disease risk assessment different from the others available?
A. The most important difference is that it’s disease-specific. You receive your 5-year risk assessment, your comparison to others of the same age and gender, and information on what percentage of risk is under your control for each specific disease. It will help you identify where your greatest risks are and see where to focus your efforts. This helps you discover how to have the greatest impact on your health (for instance, by exercising, controlling your blood pressure, quitting smoking, etc.). Our participants find the actionable knowledge motivating.
Q. How does this test differ from your other screenings?
A. Our vascular screenings show you where your vascular health stands today, whereas the disease risk assessment uses clinical data to predict your risk of disease over the next 5 years. The vascular screenings and disease risk assessment screening complement each other to provide a more comprehensive picture of where your health stands today.
Q. Don’t your other tests screen for stroke?
A. Yes, they show you where your vascular health stands today. The Disease Prevention Scorecard predicts your future risk of stroke over the next 5 years and identifies what risk factors you can control.
Q. What is involved in the screening?
A. The screening includes simple finger-stick blood tests for cholesterol, glucose and C-reactive protein (where available), blood pressure, body mass index (BMI, based on height and weight), waist circumference, and a brief questionnaire on personal and family health history as well as lifestyle factors.
Q. How are my risks calculated and how accurate are my results?
A. The clinical data gathered from your screening are run through a powerful predictive model. The model is backed by more than 100 clinical studies, including the landmark Framingham Heart Study*, and clinically validated by Duke University. The model is endorsed and used by physicians. Once you receive your own personal profile, you can then share your results with your physician.
Q. When will I receive my results?
A. You will receive your personal results report within 21 days of your screening.
Q. Do I need a screening if I already get blood tests through my doctor?
A. This is more than just a blood screening. We measure your blood pressure, body mass index (based on height and weight), heart rate and waist circumference. Based on this data as well as information gathered from a brief personal and family health history questionnaire, we are able to predict your risk over the next 5 years for 6 chronic diseases, and help you identify what you can do to control or modify your risk factors and improve your health.
Q. Can I be screened if I’m adopted and don’t know my family health history?
A. Yes, your results will be based on the information we are able to gather. If there is some missing family history information, a results report can still be generated.
Q. What is the age range for this screening?
A. The age range is 21 to 80 years of age. Clinical data outside of this range are not available to determine one’s risk for the onset of disease. Please keep in mind that the recommended age for our other vascular screenings is 40 and above.
Q. What is coronary heart disease?
A. Coronary heart disease occurs when the arteries to the heart become clogged or narrowed due to atherosclerosis. This restricts blood flow and oxygen to the heart, both of which the heart needs to function properly.
Q. What is congestive heart failure?
A. Congestive heart failure (CHF), or heart failure, is a condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood to the body's other organs. The heart keeps working but it does not work as efficiently as it should. As a result, the body’s needs for oxygen and nutrients are not met.
As blood moves through the heart and body less efficiently, pressure in the heart increases. The heart’s chambers stretch to hold more blood to pump throughout the body. Over time the heart muscle walls weaken and cannot pump as strongly. The kidneys often respond by causing the body to retain fluid or water and sodium (salt). The fluid builds up in the arms, legs, feet, ankles, lungs or other organs and causes swelling. The body becomes congested.
Q. What is COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)?
A. COPD is a serious lung disease that, over time, makes it hard to breathe. You may have heard COPD called other names, like emphysema or chronic bronchitis. In people who have COPD, the airways—tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs—are partially blocked, which makes it hard to get air in and out.
When COPD is severe, shortness of breath and other symptoms of COPD can get in the way of even the most basic tasks, such as doing light housework, taking a walk, and even washing and dressing.
Q. What is lung cancer?
A. Lung cancer starts when abnormal cells grow out of control in the lungs. Lung cancer and smoking often, but not always, go hand in hand.
Q. What is a body mass index (BMI)?
A. BMI is a calculated value based on your height and weight. It estimates whether you are at a healthy weight. Being overweight puts strain on your heart and leads to serious health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and other serious conditions.
Q. How often should I be screened?
A. You should be screened annually if your clinical values (blood pressure, cholesterol, BMI, etc.) are not in the normal range and if you are at high risk for disease onset. You may want to get screened more often track your progress if you are making lifestyle changes to reduce your disease risks. If your clinical values are normal and your family health history has not changed, we suggest being screened every 3 to 5 years.
