Order a cardiovascular blood test and measure your heart markers

A standard cholesterol reading gives you a first impression, but the relationship between cholesterol and heart risk is more nuanced than a single number. This cardiovascular blood test therefore looks wider: alongside your lipid profile, it also measures low-grade inflammation and homocysteine.

hs-CRP can be a sign of low-grade inflammation in your body, and homocysteine is an amino acid that some studies have linked to cardiovascular risk. Together, these markers may give you a more nuanced view to discuss with a doctor.

This test may suit men who:

• want to look beyond a single cholesterol reading
• have heart or vascular disease in the family and want extra data points
• track their cardiovascular markers while working on diet, exercise or lifestyle
• simply want to know where they stand

Symptoms are not required. Some men prefer to record a baseline to compare against later.

This cardiovascular blood test measures six markers in your blood:

• Total cholesterol (mmol/l): the total amount of cholesterol in your blood.
• HDL cholesterol (mmol/l): often called the "good" cholesterol, involved in transporting cholesterol back to the liver.
• LDL cholesterol (mmol/l): the carrier that transports cholesterol to your tissues; elevated levels may be linked to higher cardiovascular risk.
• Triglycerides (mmol/l): a type of fat in your blood that can be influenced by diet, alcohol and metabolic status.
• hs-CRP (mg/l): high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, a marker that may reflect low-grade inflammation.
• Homocysteine (umol/l): an amino acid whose elevated levels have been associated with cardiovascular risk in some studies.

Together these values form a lipid profile, supplemented with two wider markers. You can read more about one of these markers on the page about LDL cholesterol.

The strength of this panel is in the combination. A shifted lipid profile alongside an elevated hs-CRP may, for example, point to an inflammatory component that a single cholesterol reading could miss.

On its own, no single value tells you everything. What your values together may mean for your situation is best discussed with a doctor who looks at the wider context.

For this test, blood is drawn at a certified sample point. There are 700+ locations across the Netherlands, which you choose yourself after ordering.

You arrange it without seeing your GP first: you pick a location and a time that suit you. The draw is done by trained staff and usually takes only a few minutes.

This test may be useful if you want more context than a single cholesterol value, if heart or vascular disease runs in your family, or if a previous reading showed borderline values.

If you are working on your diet or fitness, tracking your lipid profile and the wider markers can show you how your values develop over time. If you only want your cholesterol and triglycerides measured, look at the more focused lipid panel.

Your result shows each marker alongside a reference range. Lipid values are usually reviewed as a group, and the ratios between them (such as total cholesterol relative to HDL) can also be informative.

hs-CRP can be temporarily elevated by a recent infection or intense exercise, so context matters. Note: this cardiovascular blood test measures your cholesterol through LDL and HDL, not your apolipoprotein B. If you are looking for your apolipoprotein B value, that is a separate marker this test does not determine. A doctor can interpret your values together with your situation.

Your results are available online within a few working days. You log in to your account and view your values whenever it suits you, with a reference range and a clear explanation for each marker.

Every blood test result includes a professional assessment from a BIG-registered doctor. For treatment decisions, discuss your results with your GP.