The best way to live a longer life is to reduce your risk of having a heart attack. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States - and cholesterol is usually the culprit.

The reason we make such a big deal about our test being ‘complete’ and ‘comprehensive’ is because growing evidence now suggests standard diagnostic tests are missing important parts of the risk equation for cholesterol. Saguaro Bloom’s test works harder than the average to provide the most advanced cholesterol markers that correlate best with your individual risk of developing heart disease.

Prevention is the key here, and knowing your unique measurements is the starting point on the pathway to success. Once you know, you can make your plan to either get out of the risk zone or optimize your life span.

This is what the test will measure:

ApoB. 

This is the hidden treasure that the other tests are missing. This cutting-edge test is the most powerful way to assess potentially life-threatening atherosclerotic disease. 

Elevations of ApoB levels above 80 mg/dL are highly correlated with an increased risk of developing a heart attack or having a stroke. The good news is that studies have shown that dropping Apo B levels by 10 mg/dL can reduce your risk of heart disease by 12%. Also, it's additive! The more you lower your ApoB, the more you lower your risk. With a low enough ApoB, you can practically eliminate your exposure to the #1 cause of death in America. (That’s the sort of sentence we love writing.)

Lipoprotein (a)

This is another cutting-edge test and yet another reason why measuring LDL on its own is not enough. You can have totally normal LDL levels, but a very elevated LP(a).

While Lp(a) is generally considered hereditary, we know that by addressing elevated Apo B levels, we may have a positive effect on our Lp(a) as well. 

Furthermore, there have been case reports of people making radical improvements in LP(a) with drastic dietary modifications (all plant-based - we know- yikes!!) and new pharmaceutical agents. We’re here to help you understand your risks and the benefits of addressing them as aggressively (hello, vegan diet) or modestly as your life allows. .

LDL

Colloquially known as the ‘bad’ cholesterol, LDL is the most traditional biomarker used to estimate your risk of developing heart disease and it still has the most data behind it. But there are insane, 50-year studies showing just how much risk is incurred by having suboptimal cholesterol levels - and the consistent problem with LDL is that it simply isn't nuanced enough to assess for the actual bad cholesterol. As we mentioned earlier, you can have pretty normal LDL levels but hidden ‘bad cholesterol’ quietly doing damage within it. There is a better way to assess the actual ‘bad cholesterol’. And the ApoB test is it!

HDL

Historically known as the "good cholesterol" HDL isn't the significant risk factor we once thought it was. According to an increasing number of studies, just trying to increase your HDL levels alone won't magically reduce your risk of heart disease. It's not as simple as just looking at one cholesterol marker in isolation. The relationship between HDL and cardiovascular health is a lot more complex than that. We're talking about the whole lipid system here, and even the type of HDL particle matters! 

Plus, let's not forget about lifestyle factors like exercise, weight loss, and eating your vegetables. So, if you want to keep your ticker ticking, take a more holistic approach and check your ApoB and LP (a) levels as well!

Total cholesterol

Let me tell you something about total cholesterol measurements and heart health. It's time to stop obsessing over total cholesterol, okay? It's not the be-all and end-all of heart health. Instead, what really matters is the ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol and the size and number of LDL particles. Listen up, because here's the tea: high LDL cholesterol levels, especially those pesky small, dense LDL particles, pose a bigger risk for heart disease than just high total cholesterol levels. But hold on, don't go running for the statins just yet! Keep in mind that the lipid-heart relationship is more complicated than just looking at numbers. Lifestyle factors play a big role too, so don't forget to hit the gym and munch on some greens, as well as read about our more comprehensive ApoB and LP(a) measurements!

Triglycerides

Triglycerides are a type of fat found in the blood. They are also the body’s main storage of fat, to then be used for energy. It’s possible for the liver to make triglycerides, but we also ingest them through aspects of our diet such as meat, dairy products and cooking oils. High triglyceride levels can be harmful to our health and are a strong predictor of developing heart disease, so testing them is crucial.