Most people believe a basic cholesterol test tells them everything they need to know about their heart.
If your routine cholesterol tests like - LDL, HDL, triglycerides look normal, you think you’re in the clear and sorted for healthy longevity, right?
Wrong.
Heart disease isn’t caused by one bad number.
It’s usually caused a slow buildup of problems, that the routine cholesterol tests can’t spot.
And that’s why so many people get blindsided.
By the time a doctor finally tells you that you have a problem in your heart, there’s a high chance you’ve already lost decades of heart function.
Unless you start tracking the right numbers, which we’ll cover in this article.
Keep reading.
The Heart Health Test That’s Lying to You
For years, most doctors have been handing out the same advice:
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“Get your cholesterol checked.”
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“Make sure your LDL isn’t too high.”
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“If it is, take a statin and you’ll be fine.”
But that’s outdated thinking.
Because here’s the truth: plenty of people with “normal” LDL still have heart attacks.
Meanwhile, some people with high cholesterol live long, disease-free lives.
So if cholesterol alone doesn’t determine heart disease, then what does?
It’s not about the amount of cholesterol in your blood, it's about what’s happening to it.
If you’re not tracking the right markers, you could be walking straight into a heart attack without realizing it.
The Real Warning Signs You Should Be Tracking
Most people who get hit with a heart attack never saw it coming.
Not because they weren’t paying attention because they were looking at the wrong numbers.
The 4 markers below can help you predict heart disease before it’s too late.
The things a basic cholesterol test won’t tell you. Let’s get into it.
1. ApoB
We’ll explain this in a simple way.
Imagine your bloodstream is a highway, and there are trucks carrying cholesterol.
Those trucks are APO
A basic cholesterol test tells you how much cholesterol you have but ApoB tells you how many particles are carrying it.
And too many ApoB particles are what actually cause heart disease.
Too many particles slam into artery walls, squeeze into the cracks, and start piling up forming plaque that clogs your circulation.
This is why two people can have the same LDL, but completely different risks.
If one has low ApoB, their cholesterol moves safely through their system. If the other has high ApoB, it’s a traffic jam inside their arteries, increasing the chances of a deadly blockage.
If you don’t know your ApoB level, you don’t know if your LDL is actually safe or if it’s slowly setting you up for disaster.
Lipoprotein(a)
Most people don’t even know this marker exists.
But if your Lp(a) levels are high, your arteries are in trouble and you wouldn’t have a clue unless you tested for it.
Lp(a) is a cholesterol particle that acts like those special glue you get from a hardware store) .
When it shows up in your bloodstream, it sticks to your artery walls, speeds up plaque formation, and makes existing blocks even harder to remove.
Here are some more problems we’ve found.
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Your Lp(a) levels are mostly genetic. You could eat the perfect diet, exercise daily, and still have high Lp(a).
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Statin medications won’t lower it. If your doctor only prescribed cholesterol meds without checking your Lp(a), they might be completely missing the real problem.
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It doesn’t show up on a standard cholesterol test. Your LDL could be fine, but if your Lp(a) is high, you’re still at major risk.
If you’ve never tested for this, you have no idea if you’re carrying a genetic time bomb.
High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-CRP)
This is the fire burning inside your blood vessels.
Cholesterol doesn’t cause heart attacks on its own.
Inflammation is what turns plaque from “harmless buildup” to “deadly rupture.”
And the best way to measure inflammation is hs-CRP.
Think of it this way:
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Low hs-CRP (below 1 mg/L) - Your arteries are stable, your body isn’t in a constant state of stress, and any plaque buildup you have is less likely to rupture.
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High hs-CRP (above 3 mg/L)That means your arteries are already inflamed, and inflamed arteries are unstable arteries.
If plaque breaks off inside an inflamed artery, it can easily trigger a blood clot.
That’s when heart attacks and strokes happen.
So if your hs-CRP is high, you must reduce inflammation in your heart before your arteries become unstable.
Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC) Score
A CAC score is like an X-ray for your arteries and detects how much plaque has already built up inside.
Instead of guessing your risk based on bloodwork,
it shows you exactly how much plaque is already built up inside your heart’s highways.
Score of 0 - Your arteries are clean, no significant plaque buildup.
Score of 100 - You’ve got some deposits, but nothing critical yet.
Score over 400 - That’s high risk. Your arteries are stiffening, and your heart is under constant strain.
Here’s the scary part: you could have low cholesterol and still score high on a CAC scan.
Because as we saw already, heart disease isn’t just about cholesterol it’s about both what’s happening, and what has already happened inside your blood vessels.
If you want to know for sure whether your arteries are clogging up, this is the only test that gives you an answer you can’t ignore.
So, what to do now?
Here’s our final piece of advice.
Don’t take heart disease seriously until you get something serious.
Until a routine checkup turns into a “we need to talk” moment with their doctor.
By then, the damage is already done.
You don’t want to be that person.
Right now, you have a rare opportunity… and you made a REALLY GOOD choice to read this.
You can now see the warning signs before they turn into a crisis.
You can catch high ApoB, sticky Lp(a), silent plaque buildup, and hidden inflammation before they flip your life upside down.
So please take the tests. Ask your doctor for ApoB, Lp(a), a CAC scan, and hs-CRP.
Because if you skip them, you’re gambling on your own heart.
And while you wait for those results, start fixing what you can control.
Because no matter what your bloodwork says, the pillars of heart health don’t change.
Breathing better. Exercising regularly. Eating right.
We’re breaking it all down soon for you - simple, practical steps you can start today.
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