Table of contents:
- Types of blood tests that are done to assess heart health
- 1. Cholesterol test
- Total cholesterol
- Low-density lipoprotein (LDL)
- High-density lipoprotein (HDL)
- 2.C-reactive protein (CRP) test
- 3.Lipoprotein (a) test
- 4.Brain natriuretic peptides (BNP) test
Heart disease is still the leading cause of death in Indonesia. Yes, more and more people are experiencing various heart diseases, from heart attacks to heart failure. To find out the health condition of your heart, there are several blood tests that must be done. What are the blood tests? When to do the blood test? Find out the answer below.
Types of blood tests that are done to assess heart health
Blood is one part of the body that is usually used to check various bodily functions, including heart health. A study has shown that there are several types of blood tests that can help detect heart disease early.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Association, reveals that blood tests can detect symptoms from even 15 years before a diagnosis is determined. Although, these findings still need further study, blood tests are the basic tests that must be done to determine heart health.
So, what types of blood tests are usually done to check a person's heart health?
1. Cholesterol test
Maybe you have often heard of this type of blood test. Yes, the cholesterol test is intended to see the amount of cholesterol in your body. Cholesterol levels are a sign of heart problems or not. There are three types of cholesterol tests that will be carried out, namely:
Total cholesterol
This test looks at the total cholesterol level in the body. The higher the number, the higher your risk of developing heart disease. If you are healthy, your cholesterol should be below 200 mg / dL.
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL)
Usually, this type of cholesterol is known as bad cholesterol, because it can cause clogged blood vessels if there is too much of it in the body. Normally, bad cholesterol should be less than 130 mg / dL.
High-density lipoprotein (HDL)
On the other hand, HDL is called good cholesterol because it has the opposite way of working with LDL. HDL helps keep blood vessels from clogging due to LDL. Therefore, the HDL level should be more than 40 mg / dL (for men) and more than 50 mg / dl (for women).
2.C-reactive protein (CRP) test
CRP is a type of protein that is produced by the liver (liver) when there is inflammation or injury in the body. So, if the blood test results show that the CRP count is high, then this could be due to injury to one part of the body, not only the heart.
Because of this, usually this test will only be done when a person already feels the early symptoms of heart disease. CRP levels above 2.0 mg can be suspected that you have impaired heart function.
3.Lipoprotein (a) test
Lipoprotein (a) or Lp (a) is a type of bad cholesterol (LDL). The level of Lp (a) in the body actually depends on the genetics you carry, environmental factors do not really affect it.
So, when your Lp (a) level is high, you can say that you are at risk for heart health problems due to genetics. Usually, this examination is recommended for people who have family members who have had heart disease.
4.Brain natriuretic peptides (BNP) test
BNP is also a type of protein produced by the heart and blood vessels. This protein is responsible for regulating blood flow and relaxing blood vessels. Well, when there is a heart health problem, the heart will release more BNP into the blood vessels.
Usually, this test is a detection of heart failure or other heart disease. For those of you who have had a heart attack, this examination will be recommended to be carried out regularly.
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