Atherosclerosis — the build-up in artery walls that leads to heart attacks — develops silently over decades and is usually undetectable by ordinary means until a person is in their thirties or forties. Assessing your risk allows that process to be identified and managed before it causes an event. Australian guidelines recommend risk assessment from age 45, from 35 for people with diabetes, and from 30 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The INTERHEART study, which examined heart attack patients across 52 countries, found that nine factors accounted for roughly 90 per cent of the risk of a first heart attack. They are the balance of LDL to HDL cholesterol, smoking, diabetes, raised blood pressure, abdominal weight, physical inactivity, low fruit and vegetable intake, alcohol, and psychosocial stress. Most of these can be changed.

No. Heart disease does appear seven to ten years earlier in men on average, which is where the misconception comes from. But because women live longer, the total burden of heart disease across a lifetime is actually greater in women. Symptoms in women can also present differently, which contributes to delayed diagnosis.

No. A risk calculator gives a population-derived estimate of the chance of a cardiovascular event over a set period — it is not a prediction about you as an individual. It is designed to start a conversation with your doctor about whether further assessment or treatment is worthwhile, not to replace one. Tests such as coronary calcium scoring can add individual detail where appropriate.