Heart screening often includes blood tests to measure your cholesterol levels, but new types of heart tests could soon be available that could provide additional information about your health. Although it will be a while before these new heart tests become available in London, they may one day help to make cardiac screening even more effective than it is now. 

Blood Tests for Your Heart

One of the most common blood tests that is performed during heart screening is a cholesterol test. The level of cholesterol in your blood can help to predict your risk of developing cardiovascular problems in the future. It can also provide useful insight into how well your efforts to reduce your heart risk are working. Once you have made changes to your diet and lifestyle, you can return to the clinic in London for another heart test to check your cholesterol. The level of bad cholesterol in your blood should go down.

New Blood Tests for Heart Screening

Researchers are now developing a new blood test that could add extra insight into your heart risk. The test measures a chemical called troponin. People who have higher than normal levels of troponin in their blood are more likely to go on to develop heart disease. If the level increases over time, this indicates that the risk of heart problems is rising too. A recent study looked at the levels of troponin in the blood of 9000 people. The blood samples were taken when there was no sign of heart disease and the patient’s health was then tracked for many years. It was found that troponin levels were even better than cholesterol levels at predicting who would develop cardiovascular problems. Further research should help to improve the way this heart test is performed and interpreted, so it could soon be available as part of cardiac screening at clinics in London.