Using the Framingham risk formula for the 10-year risk of coronary heart disease events, Dr. Wong and his associates calculated the projected number of events expected for these 676 people on the basis of their clinical characteristics at the time of the survey. They also calculated the projected number of events if their blood pressures and serum levels of LDL and HDL cholesterol were treated to achieve either nominal control or optimal control.
The calculations also showed that more events would be prevented by combined control of blood pressure and serum lipids than by the additive effect of controlling each of these parameters alone, said Dr. Wong, director of the heart disease prevention program at the University of California, Irvine.