Online Health Calculators: Know the Benefits and Risks

By Lisa Collier Cool Dec 10, 2013 Health Blogs Main

Day in Health
by Lisa Collier Cool Recent Posts

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More Articles In just seconds, you can calculate your risk for a wide range of dangerous diseasesfrom heart attacks to breast cancerfind out if youre working out at the right intensity, learn if you qualify for a subsidy under Obamacare, and even get an estimate of how long you might live, using free online health tools. How accurate are these calculators and do doctors recommend them? To find out more, I talked to Bradley Bale, MD, Medical Director of the Heart Health Program at Grace Clinic in Lubbock, Texas. Dr. Bale uses an online calculator called the Reynolds Risk Score as one way of assessing how likely patients are to suffer a heart attack, stroke, or other major cardiovascular event in the next ten years. For example, according to the tool, a 55-year-old man with high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels could have a 10-year-heart attack risk of nearly 20 percentand potentially higher, depending on family history and other factors. While this tool has some limitations, it is one of the better health calculators because its been validated in medical studies and includes both family history and a biomarker of inflammation, as well as blood pressure and cholesterol numbers, in the risk assessment, says Dr. Bale, who is also the coauthor of Beat the Heart Attack Gene. Best Tips for a Healthier Heart

Benefits and Risks of Online Health Calculators

Dr. Bale reports that there are a number of potentially helpful health calculators available online, but patients should bear in mind that the results should be interpreted with caution, in consultation with your doctor. Also weigh the credibility of the organization that offers the calculator and whether any studies have been done to evaluate its accuracy. A well-designed health calculator could be a good way to get a handle on potential health risks that might lurk in your future," says Dr. Bale. For examp le, if a calculator says you are at high risk for a certain disease, that data could be a springboard to a discussion with your medical provider about what you could do to lower that risk. However, you shouldnt panic if a calculator says youre at high risk for a disease, since you may never develop it. And some online tools may overestimate health threats, as appears to be the case with a controversial heart risk calculator released last month by the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology. Critics charged that it would cause millions of healthy people to take cholesterollowering statins they didnt really need. Nor should a very low risk score be taken as a reason to skip medically advised screening tests, cautions Dr. Bale. It would be unwise for a women to cancel her mammogram appointment because she scored as being at very low risk for breast cancer, given the potentially lifesaving benefits of early detection of this disease. Incredible Tattoos Inspired by Breast Cancer

10 Helpful Online Calculators

After combing through dozens of health calculators for various diseases, conditions, and health costs, Ive identified these 10 as helpful tools to consider. National Cancer Institute (NCI) breast cancer risk calculator. Designed by NCI scientists, and the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) , this tool estimates a womans risk for invasive breast cancer. It has recently been updated for African-American and Asian/Pacific Island women based on two recent studies. Keep in mind, this tool was designed for use by healthcare professionalspatients are encouraged to discuss their risk level with their physician. American Diabetes Association Diabetes Risk Test. Millions of Americans are walking around with undiagnosed type 2 diabetes or prediabetes, so this calculator could help you decide if you should get a blood sugar test. For example, a 40-year-old woman of average height who weighs more than 173 lbs. has a higher risk for type 2 diabetes, according to this tool, even if she has no family history of the condition. Early detection and treatment can sometimes reverse type 2 diabetes, Dr. Bale reports, or prevent prediabetes from progressing to the full-blown disease. Baylor College of Medicine Adult Energy Needs and BMI Calculator. BMI, a number calculated from your height and weight provides a reliable measure of body fatness for most people, says Dr. Bale. A BMI of 25 to 29 means that you are overweight, while a BMI of 30 or higher marks obesity, which can boost risk for a wide range of diseases. The calculator also figures out how many calories you need daily to maintain or achieve a healthy weight. University of Maryland HIV Risk Calculator. This tool will help you decide if you need to be tested for HIV/AIDS, based on 6 questions to check for common risk factors for HIV.

Univfy IVF Cost Calculator. If youre considering having in vitro fert ilization (IVF), this free calculator takes some of the guesswork out of comparing costs, which can range between $10,000 and $20,000, with no guarantee of success, reports Fox News. Univfy also offers several online calculators, priced at $49.50 to $175, that make personalized predictions of how likely a couple is to end up with a baby, based on an analysis of data from more than 10,000 IVF cycles. The Weather Channel Target Heart Rate Calculator. Unlike some online heart rate calculators that only take your age into account in figuring out your target for a safe and effective workout, this tool also factors in your weight, resting heart rate, and gender for a more personalized assessment. University of Maryland Medical Center Calories Burned Calculator. This tool figures out how many calories you torch during various physical activities, based on information from the American Dietetics Association. For example, someone who weighs 150 lbs. may burn approximately 400 calories during an hour of tennis. Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Health Reform Subsidy Calculator. If youre purchasing a policy on the new health insurance exchanges, this tool will help you tell if you would qualify for a government premium assistance subsidy, based on your age, income level, and family size. University of Pennsylvania Life Expectancy Calculator. Predictions are based on published data about how various health risks affect Americans longevity. Click here for an alternate life expectancy tool designed for the elderly.