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A health risk profile assesses a person’s risk of developing certain diseases or conditions through medical questions and tests. It can help doctors provide treatment or advice on behaviors that may put people at risk. While not definitive, it can identify early those at risk and encourage behavioral changes.
A health risk profile is a series of basic medical questions and tests, which can help determine a person’s risk for developing certain diseases or conditions. Sometimes a health risk profile is specific to the disease. For example, a health risk profile might determine someone’s risk of developing heart disease, cancer, or diabetes. Other times, a population of people may be voluntarily profiled to assess the risks of certain diseases specific to that population.
A general health risk profile is often used during a regular physical checkup. It can help doctors direct the course of treatment or provide advice on behaviors or activities that may put people at risk for developing certain types of conditions. Smokers can be advised to quit smoking. People with a high body mass index (BMI) may be advised to lose weight. Behaviors are evaluated against known risks for a large number of diseases.
In general, the more specific a health risk profile is, the more likely it is to identify risk factors for conditions. A heart health risk profile is much more specific for determining risk factors for heart disease than a more general health risk profile.
Questions about your health risk profile and basic medical tests, such as blood pressure measurements or blood tests, can change as you learn more about your risks for a given condition. For example, measurements of maximum healthy BMI ranked higher when determining heart disease risks. These measurements were lowered following further studies, indicating that even a slightly overweight person may be at a higher risk of developing heart disease.
The health risk profile is not a definitive diagnostic tool, as people are individuals and not everything is known about every condition. People with high risk factors for certain diseases may not develop them, despite suggestive profiling. Also, a person with a health risk profile that does not suggest the likelihood of developing a disease may still develop that disease. The health risk profile can make predictions based on data, but these are not absolute or foolproof predictions.
While a health risk profile isn’t a definitive diagnostic method, it can still help identify people early who may be at risk of developing certain conditions. A person in a high-risk group may be able to change their risk by changing their behavior. Even when a genetic predisposition for a condition is clearly understood, behavioral changes can still affect overall risk.
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