Heart Age Assessment

Abstract

An automated method of determining a measure of a subject's heart age comprising the steps of: prompting a user for a plurality of inputs, each relating to an attribute of the subject, each attribute defining one or more of a demographic status of the subject, a lifestyle status of the subject, a physical condition of the subject and a medical history of the subject; receiving, from the user, a plurality of said inputs; determining from said received inputs, a set of parameters for which input data has been received as input from the user; selecting a heart age calculation algorithm from a predetermined set of heart age calculation algorithms according to said set of parameters; and calculating a heart age for the subject according to the selected algorithm; and providing as output said calculated heart age.

1 - 22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . An automated method of estimating blood lipid levels of a subject, said method carried out on a computer system and comprising the automated steps of:
 a) receiving a plurality of data values, each relating to an attribute of the subject, each attribute defining one or more of a demographic status of the subject, a lifestyle status of the subject, a physical condition of the subject and a medical history of the subject, the data values not including any quantitative measure of a cholesterol level of the subject, said data values either provided by the user through a user input device of the computer system or transferred electronically from another device;   b) calculating a CVD risk for the subject based on said data values using a first algorithm stored in a database on the computer system;   c) determining one or a range of possible total cholesterol levels and HDL cholesterol levels for the subject consistent with the calculated first CVD risk by comparison of the first CVD risk with statistical average CVD risk as a function of measured total and HDL cholesterol levels in a population;   d) determining a statistical average total cholesterol level in a population for the subject's age and/or gender:   e) calculating an estimated HDL cholesterol level for the subject as a function of the first CVD risk and the determined statistical average total cholesterol level in the population,   f) comparing the calculated HDL cholesterol level with a predetermined threshold and providing output to a user on a visual display of the computer system, indicating a recommendation for a cholesterol screening test or not.   
     
     
         24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 23  in which step c) comprises determining a range of possible values for a ratio of total cholesterol level/HDL cholesterol level and in which step e) comprises calculating the HDL cholesterol level as a function of said ratio of total cholesterol level/HDL cholesterol level. 
     
     
         26 . (canceled) 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 23  further including the step of presenting a user with recommendations for reducing the subject's cholesterol levels based on said calculated HDL cholesterol level. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 23  in which the first algorithm uses the parameters: age, gender, incidence of diabetes, incidence of smoking, incidence of hypertensive condition and body mass as inputs. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 27  in which the first algorithm further uses the parameter systolic blood pressure as input. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 27  in which the first algorithm further uses the parameters height and weight as inputs. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 27  in which the first algorithm further uses the parameter waist size as input. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 23  further including the step of notifying the user of one or more factors contributory to a high HDL cholesterol vaiue. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 23  further including the step of presenting a user with a number of options for reducing HDL cholesterol value. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 23  further including recording a plurality of said calculated HDL cholesterol values for the subject over a period of time. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 23  in which the plurality of inputs relating to attributes of the subject are selected from: height, weight, gender, blood pressure, age, incidence of smoking activity, incidence of a diabetic condition, waist size, incidence of CVD, incidence of blood pressure condition or treatment, calorie intake, saturated fat intake, salt intake, level of physical activity. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 25  further comprising the steps of:
 comparing the calculated first CVD risk with a first predetermined threshold and comparing the total cholesterol level/HDL cholesterol level with a second predetermined threshold and determining whether the subject should be indicated for treatment based on both the first and second thresholds being exceeded. 
 
     
     
         38 . Apparatus for estimating blood lipid levels of a subject, the apparatus comprising:
 a) means for receiving a plurality of data values, each relating to an attribute of the subject, each attribute defining one or more of a demographic status of the subject, a lifestyle status of the subject, a physical condition of the subject and a medical history of the subject, the data values not including any quantitative measure of a cholesterol level of the subject;   b) means for calculating a first CVD risk for the subject based on said data values using a first algorithm;   c) means for determining one or a range of possible total cholesterol levels and HDL cholesterol levels for the subject consistent with the calculated first CVD risk by comparison of the first CVD risk with statistical average CVD risk as a function of measured total and HDL cholesterol levels in a population:   d) means for determining a statistical average total cholesterol level in a population for the subject's age and/or gender;   e) means for calculating an estimated HDL cholesterol level for the subject as a function of the first CVD risk and the determined statistical average total cholesterol level in the population.   
     
     
         39 . A computer program for instructing a computer to perform the method of  claim 23 . 
     
     
         40 . A computer-readable medium comprising the computer program of  claim 39 . 
     
     
         41 . Apparatus for assisting a user in making beneficial food choices while shopping comprising:
 means for receiving a user's heart age;   means for determining a recommended maximum proportion of saturated fat in the user's diet based on said user's heart age;   output means for providing as output, indications of recommended food products falling within the recommended maximum proportion of saturated fat in the user's diet for the user's heart age.   
     
     
         42 . The apparatus of  claim 41  in which the output means comprises means for producing a list of recommended food items. 
     
     
         43 . The apparatus of  claim 42  in which the list of recommended food items comprises vouchers for food item purchase. 
     
     
         44 . The apparatus of  claim 41  which the indications on recommended food products comprise, alternatives to food products previously selected by the user, the food products previously selected by the user being not recommended for said user's heart age. 
     
     
         45 . The apparatus of  claim 44  further including means for scanning food products previously selected by said user to identify said food products. 
     
     
         46 . The apparatus of  claim 41  in which the means for receiving user's heart age comprises a card reader or barcode reader. 
     
     
         47 . The apparatus of  claim 41  further including means for receiving inputs relating to the user's lifestyle.