Your heart health is central to overall good health, and should be taken seriously as cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. As the center of your cardiovascular system, your heart is vitally responsible for just about every process that keeps us alive, from the transportation of oxygen to the success of your immune system. It needs protecting!

Staying fit has many positive effects on heart health, including lowering blood pressure, lessening the risk of developing diabetes, maintaining a healthy weight and reducing inflammation throughout the body.

This is what the test will measure:

The Cholesterol Panel checks lipid and cholesterol levels to show your total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and triglycerides. Knowing your numbers and taking steps to optimize your cholesterol and lipid levels is a great way to help reduce your risk for cardiovascular disease.

ApoB. This cutting-edge way to assess for potentially life-threatening athersclerotic disease works by measuring the amount of apolipoprotein B in your blood. This is the main protein found in the low-density lipoproteins, LDL. LDL is known as ‘bad’ cholesterol because high levels of it can damage your heart and arteries. Assessing your ApoB levels provides a more in-depth cholesterol reading, which helps with risk prediction and early detection.

Lp (a)

Lipoproteins are a type of protein that transports cholesterol in the blood. There are two main types of lipoprotein: high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, which is often referred to as the ‘good’ cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) which is called the ‘bad’ cholesterol.

The body needs a certain amount of cholesterol to function well. Cholesterol is necessary for the maintenance of cell structure and the production of steroid hormones. High levels of HDL cholesterol may even help decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease. But Lp(a) is a risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease because high levels of LDL cholesterol can cause atherosclerosis; a build-up of fatty deposits in the blood vessels, which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. Also, apolipoprotein(a), a protein that makes up part of Lp(a), can prevent enzymes from dissolving blood clots, so it may increase the risk of clots forming in the arteries.

One in five Americans may be unaware that they have risky levels of lipoprotein (a) in their blood because the test is not performed in most routine medicals.

LDL

Also known as the ‘bad’ cholesterol, LDL is the main source of blockages in the arteries.

HDL

Considered the ‘good’ cholesterol, HDL helps get rid of LDL cholesterol.

Total cholesterol

The combined amount of LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol in your blood.

Triglycerides

Triglycerides are a type of fat found in your blood. Some studies show that high levels of triglycerides may increase the risk of heart disease, especially in women.