Massachusetts General Hospital | Heart Center

The Heart Attack Primary Prevention Program offers guidance to patients on ways to control and eliminate risk factors for heart attack and other cardiovascular diseases. Specialists provide each patient with a complete, individualized heart attack risk assessment. This is a critical first step in charting a course for a lifetime of good heart health. The program’s multidisciplinary team includes health professionals from cardiology, nursing, behavioral medicine, psychiatry, nutrition and exercise physiology.

Program Components

• A comprehensive evaluation by a cardiologist, nurse and nutritionist
• Specialized blood testing to measure biomarkers of cardiovascular disease
• Diagnostic testing, such as stress testing or coronary artery calcium scans, if indicated
• Support services such as nutrition classes, yoga and meditation, smoking cessation counseling and exercise advice

What to Expect

• A two hour initial evaluation with a cardiologist, nurse and nutritionist
• A heart attack risk report that includes specialized blood test results, noninvasive cardiac test reports, and a cardiac risk score
• Recommendations and treatment strategies to reduce cardiac risk

You can begin to determine your own personal risk for coronary heart disease by completing the following assessments:

• Framingham risk assessment for women
• Framingham risk assessment for men
• Body mass index (BMI)

Please note that it is important to discuss results with your doctor.