Advanced Heart Health Profile: Going Beyond Standard Cholesterol

Cardiology 12 October, 2026

Understanding the advanced heart health profile

Standard blood tests to check your heart disease risk measure your cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Triglycerides are a type of fat that your body uses to store energy. Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance used to build cells and make hormones.

High cholesterol and triglyceride levels increase your cardiovascular risk. That means you have a higher chance of cardiovascular disease, heart attack and stroke.

Cholesterol and triglycerides can build up along the insides of your blood vessels. This causes your blood vessels to narrow and harden, which reduces blood supply to your organs and tissues. However, your triglyceride and cholesterol levels are not the only risk factors for heart disease.

To get the most accurate and clear picture of your cardiovascular health, it helps to test for other markers as part of a full cardiac blood panel. This includes lipoprotein (a), apolipoproteins, inflammation markers and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein.

This reveals more detailed information about your cardiovascular risk level. Your doctor can use this to give you evidence-based expert advice. You can then make more targeted lifestyle changes and explore the most suitable treatment options if needed.

Why have a full cardiac blood panel?

A full cardiac blood panel can give you peace of mind if you have a family history of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease or heart failure. Many of these conditions have no or few early signs.

It is also important to get answers if you’re experiencing symptoms of heart disease, which include:

Breathlessness
Chest pain
Heart palpitations (feeling that your heart is beating rapidly)
Fatigue
Swollen ankles
Leg pain

With the results of your blood test, your doctor can help you decide which treatment options are right for your unique needs.

Core components of a full cardiac blood panel

At Vista Health, our heart health blood tests check whether your triglyceride, cholesterol lipoprotein (a) and apolipoprotein levels are in a normal range. They also check for low levels of inflammation, which increase your risk of cardiovascular disease, with the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein blood test.

Cholesterol blood tests

We test your total cholesterol, which is all the different types of cholesterol in your blood. This includes HDL or ‘good’ cholesterol, LDL and small LDL cholesterol, also known as ‘bad’ cholesterol.

We will also test the amount of HDL cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol. HDL cholesterol refers to cholesterol attached to the HDL protein. HDL cholesterol is transported to your liver, where it is broken down and removed from your body. Higher HDL cholesterol lowers your risk of cardiovascular disease.

Non-HDL cholesterol is calculated by subtracting the amount of HDL cholesterol from your total cholesterol level.

Apolipoprotein blood tests

Apolipoproteins attach to fats and fat-like substances to transport them around your body. There are many different types of apolipoproteins, and they affect your cardiovascular risk in different ways.

High levels of apolipoprotein B increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. Every particle of 'bad' cholesterol including LDL and other similar particles carries exactly one apolipoprotein B molecule, so measuring apolipoprotein B tells us the total number of these particles in your blood. This makes it a more accurate marker of your cardiovascular risk than a standard cholesterol test, which measures the amount of cholesterol rather than the number of particles carrying it.

High levels of apolipoprotein CIII also increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. This is because apolipoprotein CIII switches off an enzyme that breaks down fats. High levels of apolipoprotein CIII mean your fats can't be broken down and removed from your body properly.

Apolipoprotein CII does the opposite: it switches this fat-breaking enzyme on. Low levels of apolipoprotein CII increase your risk of cardiovascular disease, because there isn't enough of it to activate the enzyme, so fats aren't broken down properly.

High levels of apolipoprotein A1 reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. This is because apolipoprotein A1 is a marker of how well HDL is working to remove cholesterol from your body.

At Vista Health, we also test for different versions of apolipoprotein E. Certain versions are linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's disease.

Lipoprotein (a) blood test

Lipoprotein (a) is a protein that attaches to cholesterol to transport it around your body. High levels increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. However, your lipoprotein (a) levels are mainly determined by your genes, not your diet.

Additional screening and diagnostic tests for your heart health

A private heart health check at Vista Health not only checks your risk of heart disease with a full cardiac blood panel, but also checks for any existing damage using advanced imaging tests.

High blood pressure is one of the biggest risk factors for heart disease and damage to your cardiovascular system. It’s often silent ie doesn’t have any obvious symptoms – and goes unnoticed. According to the British Heart Foundation, millions of people in the UK are unaware that they have high blood pressure. That means they don’t know about the damage it might have done to their heart and blood vessels.

Our heart health assessments include non invasive tests to check your cardiovascular health. Specifically, this includes a CT Calcium scoring and CT Angiograms.

CT Calcium Score

A CT calcium score is a scan that measures the amount of calcium in the walls of your coronary arteries (the blood vessels that supply your heart). Calcium builds up as part of the process of atherosclerosis, where fatty deposits harden into plaque over time. The scan gives you a single score: the higher the score, the more plaque you have, and the higher your risk of cardiovascular disease. A score of zero suggests a low risk of a heart attack in the near future, while higher scores may prompt further tests or treatment. It doesn't use contrast dye and takes just a few minutes.

CT Angiogram

A CT angiogram (sometimes called a CT coronary angiogram or CTCA) is a more detailed scan that looks inside your coronary arteries themselves, not just at calcium in the artery walls. It uses a contrast dye, injected into a vein, which highlights your blood vessels on the scan. This allows doctors to see whether your arteries are narrowed or blocked by plaque, including 'soft' plaque that a calcium score can't detect, and to assess how severe any narrowing is. It's typically used when someone has symptoms suggestive of heart disease, or when calcium score or other results suggest more detailed imaging is needed.

Further tests: echocardiogram and ECG

If you have symptoms of heart disease or are concerned about your heart health, you can get fast access to a private echocardiogram or private ECG (electrocardiogram) with Vista Health.

Unlike a CT coronary angiogram, an echocardiogram doesn’t use radiation such as X rays. Instead, it uses ultrasound to create detailed images of your heart and its blood vessels. It can detect problems with your heart structure, such as thickening of the heart wall (cardiomyopathy) and heart valve defects.

An electrocardiogram checks the electrical activity of your heart, which controls your heartbeat. By checking your heart rhythm, it can detect if you have an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia).

Take back control and meet your heart health goals

If you have heart concerns and want to protect your future cardiovascular health, take the first step with a heart health assessment. Simply book your private heart health check with Vista Health online, and our friendly team will contact you to confirm your appointment.

You do not need an NHS GP referral as your comprehensive assessment starts with a private GP appointment with one of our expert GPs.

Your Vista Health GP will discuss your results and the next steps, such as referral to a consultant cardiologist. They will give you personalised advice so you get the expert care you deserve.