Q. Can SAHARA results/assessments substitute for a visit to my doctor?

A.   SAHARA is not a substitute for a trip to the doctor's office. SAHARA provides you results that may help you in discussing your health options with your family doctor during your next visit.

Q. What should I expect now that I've been able to view my report?

A.   With your heart health evaluation in hand, you may choose to incorporate lifestyle behavior changes of your liking to improve your cardiovascular risk profile. After 6-months have passed, the SAHARA Study will contact you to complete a follow-up visit. If you are randomly selected to participate in the goals program, you can expect to receive messages related to your goal, which may help you improve your risk profile. 

Q.   What should I expect if I've been selected to participate in the SAHARA Goals Program?

A.   You have already identified your goals at your first visit. In doing so our program will now be able to to send you messages related to that goal. If you’ve been selected to participate in our SAHARA Goals Program you will begin to receive messages shortly.

Q.   I've received my Heart Disease Risk Report and I'd like to speak with someone about it. Who can I speak to?

A.    Please contact us at (905) 527-4322 ext. 40378 or ext. 41136.

Q. Can I show my Heart Disease Risk Report to my family doctor?

A.   We advise participants to share their Personal Heart Disease Risk Report with their family physician. This may help initiate further discussion during your next visits or check-ups. [The score is based on the IHRS study.. the cholesterol result is based on the ApoB:A1 test].

Q.   Do you have other cholesterol test results for my blood?

A.    The cholesterol test in SAHARA is the ApoB/A1 ratio value, which is reported in your Personal Heart Disease Risk Assessment. The ApoB/A1 ratio Cholesterol test is a strong indicator of the cholesterol balance between LDL (bad cholesterol) and HDL (good cholesterol) and the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Apo B is a component of the "bad" cholesterol and Apo A1 is a component of the "good" cholesterol. If your Apo B:A1 ratio result is less than 0.633 then you have no added risk and if it is greater than or equal to 0.984, you have a very high risk of developing heart disease.

Other traditional tests, including the total cholesterol and HDL/LDL cholesterol tests, are not conducted in the SAHARA study. They require fasting prior to performing the tests. Furthermore, several studies now show that the ApoB/A1 ratio may be a better heart disease risk predictor than the traditional cholesterol tests.

If you would like to have these traditional cholesterol tests done, we would advise you to contact your family doctor.

If you have any other questions regarding your ApoB:A1 ratio test or your other results, we would be happy to answer them.

Q.   My Heart Disease Risk Report shows that I am low risk. What can I do?

A.    This result indicates an favorable heart health assessment. We advise you to continue making healthy lifestyle choices (e.g. healthy diet, regular exercise).

Q.  What does my Genetic Risk Score mean?

A.

Q. I participated in a SAHARA Screening Event recently but I have not yet heard back from the study. What should I do?

A. It takes us approximately 4 weeks to provide you your assessment mainly because our blood and genetic analyses take approximately that length of time to complete. However, please do contact us if you have haven't heard back or have any concerns. Email: sahara@mcmaster.ca or Tel: (905) 527-4322 ext. 40378 or ext. 41136.