The 10-year predicted cardiovascular disease risk is shown for 6 hypothetical people: 3 people with SBP of 110 mm Hg and 3 with SBP of 130 mm Hg. For each blood pressure level, each of the 3 people has a different cardiovascular disease risk factor profile. This figure shows that people’s 10-year predicted cardiovascular disease risk can vary more than 30-fold, despite having the same blood pressure level. Low risk: 50-year-old, white woman, nonsmoker, without diabetes, not taking antihypertensive medication, total cholesterol of 180 mg/dl and HDL cholesterol of 54 mg/dl. Intermediate risk: 60-year-old, black man, nonsmoker, with diabetes, not taking antihypertensive medication, total cholesterol of 240 mg/dl and HDL cholesterol of 50 mg/dl. High risk: 70-year-old, white man, smoker, with diabetes, not taking antihypertensive medication, total cholesterol of 240 mg/dl and HDL cholesterol of 40 mg/dl. CVD = cardiovascular disease; HDL = high-density lipoprotein; SBP = systolic blood pressure.