Fig. 1: The New Zealand risk charts represent a quick and easy method of categorizing a patient's 5-year cardiac risk on the basis of blood pressure, age, smoking status, presence of diabetes and ratio of total to high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.¹² For people with the same blood pressure, there is substantially greater risk when other risk factors are present. To use the chart for the patient described in this article, select the bottom left column of risk panels (for women who are not diabetic and who are not smokers). Using the age category of 70 years and the highest of her systolic and diastolic pressure, select the blood pressure category of 180/105 mm Hg. Her ratio of total to HDL cholesterol is 4.9 or close to 5, which puts her in a yellow risk category. Yellow corresponds to a risk of 15% to 20% of a cardiovascular event within 5 years. Antihypertensive treatment would be expected to prevent 1 event for every 16 people treated. The Framingham 10-year risk assessment methods may also be used.^13–16 Reproduced with permission from BMJ.