What is Risk?

Risk is a person's chance of getting a disease over a certain period of time. There are many different ways to present risk. In Your Disease Risk, we estimate your risk of ever developing a disease in your lifetime compared to an average person who's your same age and sex.

To do this, we make calculations based on all the factors we feel have been scientifically proven to be related to the risk of the disease. Based on how you answer a questionnaire, we compare how your specific set of risk factors compare to that of a typical person who's your same age and sex.

Of course, this risk is only an estimate. Calculating an individual's risk of disease is an inexact science. However, given what's known to date, Your Disease Risk provides a solid estimate of your risk. Even more importantly, it highlights steps you can take to lower it.