A 2003 article in the British Medical Journal clearly showed that 60% of patients who had heart attacks were considered low risk by the famous Framingham criteria. In fact almost 2/3 of cardiac events occurred in patients with low to intermediate risk. About 10% of those who are considered low risk have abnormal ankle/brachial blood pressure ratios. This is an easy and cheap test for peripheral artery disease that should be offered in most family practice offices, according to a JAMA article in 2008. Those who have abnormal peripheral circulation should now be considered at higher risk for heart attacks. Ask your doctor for A/B ratio for circulation problems.
See Family Practice News(click here), May 1, p. 15.
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