Heart Disease Risk: Which Tests to Track and Keep Together

Keep one running list of the numbers your clinician looks at when thinking about your heart: cholesterol results, blood pressure readings and A1c, plus Lp(a), ApoB and hs-CRP if they have been ordered. For each, write down the date, the value, the unit and the range printed on that lab report. This page says what each test is and what the sources say about it. It does not say what your numbers mean.

For how to pull results out of a patient portal, see our guide to exporting your records from MyChart.

What are the main tests for heart disease risk?

• Lipid panel. The CDC says the cholesterol test checks LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides, and that total cholesterol is based on those numbers. NHLBI says a lipid panel can also report non-HDL cholesterol, and that fasting is not always required.
• Blood pressure. The CDC says measuring your blood pressure is the only way to know whether you have high blood pressure, and that it usually has no warning signs or symptoms.
• A1c. The CDC says the A1C test measures your average blood sugar levels over the past 3 months.
• Lp(a), ApoB and hs-CRP. These are add-on tests that a clinician orders in some cases. See the sections below.

How often are cholesterol and blood pressure checked?

The CDC says most healthy adults should have their cholesterol checked every 4 to 6 years, and that people with heart disease, diabetes or a family history of high cholesterol need to get it checked more often. NHLBI lists family history, including early heart disease or stroke, as something that affects how often you are screened. The CDC says that blood pressure that is consistently at or above 130/80 mm Hg is high blood pressure, and that normal is less than 120/80. Your clinician decides what applies to you.

What is Lp(a)?

MedlinePlus says a lipoprotein (a) test measures the level of lipoprotein (a) in your blood, that it is a type of LDL particle, and that it is not a routine screening test. It also says your genes control how much you make and that your level usually stays fairly stable. The American College of Cardiology says the 2026 ACC and AHA dyslipidemia guideline recommends that Lp(a) be measured at least once in adulthood. A second ACC summary describes levels around 125 nmol/L (50 mg/dL) as indicating meaningful risk. Different labs report Lp(a) in different units, so keep the unit and the printed range with the number.

What are ApoB and hs-CRP?

• ApoB. MedlinePlus says apolipoprotein B is a protein that helps move cholesterol through the body and is described as a form of LDL. It says ApoB measurements may give more detail about heart disease risk, and that how much the test adds to standard cholesterol testing is not known, though the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association recommend it to help guide treatment.
• hs-CRP. MedlinePlus says an hs-CRP test measures very tiny increases in CRP and is used to estimate your risk of heart disease. It also says a CRP result shows how much inflammation you have but not what is causing it, and that other things, such as insomnia, depression, obesity and menopausal hormone therapy, can raise it. The American College of Cardiology says its 2026 summary recommends coronary artery calcium scoring and hsCRP selectively.

What about blood pressure at home?

The American College of Cardiology says the 2025 high blood pressure guideline recommends home blood pressure monitoring to help confirm an office diagnosis. It also says the guideline recommends a urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio for all patients with high blood pressure. If you take readings at home, keep them with their dates and ask your clinician how they want to see them.

A made-up example of what to keep

This is a made-up example for layout only. It is not a real person and it does not mean anything clinically.

• LDL cholesterol: a value, a unit, a date, and the range printed on that report.
• Lp(a): a value, its unit (nmol/L or mg/dL), and the date. One result is usually all there is to track.
• Blood pressure: the date, the two numbers, and whether it was taken at home or in an office.
• A1c: a value and a date.

Questions to ask your clinician

• Which of these tests have I had, and on what dates?
• Have I ever had Lp(a) measured? Should I?
• Is ApoB or hs-CRP useful in my situation, or would it not change anything?
• How is my 10-year risk estimated, and what goes into it?
• How should I report my home blood pressure readings?
• When is each result next due?

For general preparation, see our page on what to bring to a specialist appointment and the high cholesterol lab guide.

What to do with the files

1. Download your lab reports and visit summaries from each place you have been seen (how to download lab results from MyChart).
2. Connect MyChart at participating Epic health systems, or upload the reports, in your own account at philongevity.com.
3. Phi Longevity PRISM builds a one-page Care Team Brief with each result, its date, how it has changed over time, and the guideline behind each flag, using the range printed on your own lab report. You print it or save it as a PDF and bring it to your visit. See our page on one-page summaries for what a good one contains.

Phi Longevity is not a healthcare provider or a "covered entity" under HIPAA for your personal account. We store your records in HIPAA-eligible systems under a signed business associate agreement with Google Cloud, and we protect them to that standard. You can ask us to delete your data at any time.

Your first Care Team Brief is free. Phi Longevity Complete is $29/month and keeps the brief current as new results arrive.

Start free: put my heart-health results on one page →

What Phi Longevity PRISM does not do

It does not diagnose, predict heart attacks or strokes, or tell you what to take or change. It reads lab results today; medicines, diagnoses and allergies are not imported yet, and it does not read home blood pressure readings from devices. It uses the range printed on your own lab report and never swaps in its own. Your clinician decides what your results mean for you.