In the general population, less than 10% of healthy adults aged 25–74 years have no modifiable cardiovascular risk factors; therefore, risk of cardiovascular disease can potentially be improved in most people. Statin therapy for lowering cholesterol is an important cornerstone of risk reduction. The absolute benefit of statin treatment increases with increasing patient risk; thus, risk stratification of asymptomatic patients is mandatory in clinical practice. Although accurate identification of future cardiovascular disease risk is difficult when overall risk is low, the Framingham risk score and other global risk scores offer a meaningful approximation.