{"id":50791,"date":"2025-04-25T21:36:42","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T01:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hancockhealth.org\/mayo-health-library\/blood-tests-for-heart-disease\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T11:53:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T16:53:21","slug":"blood-tests-for-heart-disease","status":"publish","type":"mayo","link":"https:\/\/www.hancockhealth.org\/es\/mayo-health-library\/blood-tests-for-heart-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"Blood tests for heart disease"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"container mx-auto   wordpress-block wordpress- core-\">\n<p>The blood can give many clues about heart health. For one, high levels of &#8220;bad&#8221; cholesterol in the blood can be a sign of higher risk of having a heart attack. And other substances in the blood can point to heart failure or the risk of getting fatty deposits, called plaques, in the arteries. This is called atherosclerosis.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s important to remember that one blood test alone doesn&#8217;t decide the risk of heart disease. The highest risk factors for heart disease are smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a look at some of the blood tests used to diagnose and manage heart disease.<\/p>\n<p>A cholesterol test, also called a lipid panel or lipid profile, measures the fats in the blood. The results can show the risk of having a heart attack or other heart disease. The test most often measures:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Total cholesterol.<\/strong> This is the amount of the blood&#8217;s cholesterol content. A high level can raise the risk of heart disease.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s best if the total cholesterol level is lower than 200 milligrams per deciliter (mg\/dL) or 5.2 millimoles per liter (mmol\/L).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.<\/strong> This is sometimes called the &#8220;bad&#8221; cholesterol. Too much <abbr title=\"low-density lipoprotein\">LDL<\/abbr> cholesterol in the blood causes plaque to build up in the arteries. The buildup cuts blood flow and leads to heart and blood vessel conditions.<\/p>\n<p>El <abbr title=\"low-density lipoprotein\">LDL<\/abbr> cholesterol level should be less than 130 mg\/dL (3.4 mmol\/L). But the lower the better. It&#8217;s best if levels are under 100 mg\/dL (2.6 mmol\/L).<\/p>\n<p>This is especially true for people with diabetes or a history of heart attack, a heart stent, heart bypass surgery, or other heart or vascular condition. In people with the highest risk of heart attacks, the <abbr title=\"low-density lipoprotein\">LDL<\/abbr> level to aim for is below 70 mg\/dL (1.8 mmol\/L).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.<\/strong> This is sometimes called the &#8220;good&#8221; cholesterol because it helps carry away <abbr title=\"low-density lipoprotein\">LDL<\/abbr> (&#8220;bad&#8221;) cholesterol from the arteries. This keeps the arteries open and blood flowing more freely.<\/p>\n<p>Men should aim for an <abbr title=\"high-density lipoprotein\">HDL<\/abbr> cholesterol level over 40 mg\/dL (1.0 mmol\/L). Women should aim for an <abbr title=\"high-density lipoprotein\">HDL<\/abbr> over 50 mg\/dL (1.3 mmol\/L). The higher the better.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Triglycerides.<\/strong> Triglycerides are another type of fat in the blood. High levels can increase the risk of heart disease.<\/p>\n<p>The triglyceride level should be less than 150 mg\/dL (1.7 mmol\/L).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Non-<abbr title=\"high-density lipoprotein\">HDL<\/abbr> cholesterol.<\/strong> Total cholesterol minus <abbr title=\"high-density lipoprotein\">HDL<\/abbr> cholesterol equals non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-<abbr title=\"high-density lipoprotein\">HDL<\/abbr>-C). <abbr title=\"Non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol\">Non-HDL-C<\/abbr> is involved in plaque buildup in the arteries. <abbr title=\"Non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol\">Non-HDL-C<\/abbr> fraction may be a better marker of risk than total cholesterol or <abbr title=\"low-density lipoprotein\">LDL<\/abbr> cholesterol.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The liver makes C-reactive protein (CRP) as part of the body&#8217;s response to injury or infection. The response causes swelling inside the body, called inflammation.<\/p>\n<p>Inflammation plays a major role in the buildup of plaques in the arteries, called atherosclerosis. High-sensitivity  <abbr title=\"c-reactive protein\">CRP<\/abbr> (hs-CRP) tests help show the risk of heart disease before there are symptoms. Higher <abbr title=\"high-sensitivity CRP\">hs-CRP<\/abbr> levels are linked to a higher risk of heart attack, stroke and heart disease.<\/p>\n<p>Many things such as having a cold or going for a long run can cause  <abbr title=\"c-reactive protein\">CRP<\/abbr> levels to rise briefly. So the test should be done twice, two weeks apart. An <abbr title=\"high-sensitivity CRP\">hs-CRP<\/abbr> level above 2.0 milligrams per liter (mg\/L) shows a higher risk of heart disease.<\/p>\n<p>Lipoprotein (a), or Lp(a), is a type of <abbr title=\"low-density lipoprotein\">LDL<\/abbr> cholesterol. Genes affect <abbr title=\"Lipoprotein (a)\">Lp(a)<\/abbr> level. Lifestyle does not.<\/p>\n<p>High levels of <abbr title=\"Lipoprotein (a)\">Lp(a)<\/abbr> may show a higher risk of heart disease. But it&#8217;s not clear how much risk. Your health care professional might order an <abbr title=\"Lipoprotein (a)\">Lp(a)<\/abbr> test if you have atherosclerosis or heart disease but seem to have healthy cholesterol levels. Or you might have the test if you have a family history of early-onset heart disease, sudden death or stroke.<\/p>\n<p>Drugs are being made to lower <abbr title=\"Lipoprotein (a)\">Lp(a)<\/abbr>. But it isn&#8217;t yet clear what lowering <abbr title=\"Lipoprotein (a)\">Lp(a)<\/abbr> will do for heart disease risk.<\/p>\n<p>This test measures the levels of ceramides in the blood. All cells make ceramides. They play a big role in the way many types of tissue grow, work and die. Ceramides are linked to atherosclerosis.<\/p>\n<p>Three ceramides have been linked to plaque buildup in the arteries and insulin resistance, which can lead to type 2 diabetes. High levels of these ceramides in the blood are a sign of a higher risk of getting heart disease in 1 to 5 years.<\/p>\n<p>Brain natriuretic peptide is a protein the heart and blood vessels make. It&#8217;s also called B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP). <abbr title=\"B-type natriuretic peptide\">BNP<\/abbr> helps the body get rid of fluids, relaxes blood vessels and moves sodium into the urine.<\/p>\n<p>With heart damage, the body puts high levels of <abbr title=\"B-type natriuretic peptide\">BNP<\/abbr> into the blood to try to ease the strain on the heart. One important use of <abbr title=\"B-type natriuretic peptide\">BNP<\/abbr> is to try to learn whether shortness of breath is due to heart failure.<\/p>\n<p><abbr title=\"B-type natriuretic peptide\">BNP<\/abbr> levels vary by age, gender and weight. For people who have heart failure, getting a baseline <abbr title=\"B-type natriuretic peptide\">BNP<\/abbr> can be helpful. Future tests might help measure how well treatment works.<\/p>\n<p>Troponin T is a protein found in heart muscle. A high-sensitivity troponin T test helps health care professionals diagnose a heart attack. The test also shows the risk of heart disease. An increased level of troponin T has been linked with a higher risk of heart disease in people who have no symptoms.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn how certain blood tests can offer clues to heart health.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[1686,1685,1682],"class_list":["post-50791","mayo","type-mayo","status-publish","hentry","tag-anatomical-structure","tag-condition","tag-person-group-concept","content_type-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Blood tests for heart disease - Hancock Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hancockhealth.org\/es\/mayo-health-library\/blood-tests-for-heart-disease\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blood tests for heart disease - 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