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There is a simple blood test we can take, which is as accurate in males and more accurate with females re potential heart problems than high cholestrol levels.

That test is: “C-Reactive Protein, Cardiac test.

http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/guide/heart-disease-c-reactive-protein-crp-testing

C-reactive protein — or CRP — appears to be correlated to heart disease risk. Inflammation (swelling) of the arteries has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, heart attack, stroke, and peripheral arterial disease.

Doctors can test your blood for CRP. The body produces CRP during the general process of inflammation. Therefore, CRP is a “marker” for inflammation, meaning its presence indicates an increased state of inflammation in the body.

C-Reactive Protein and Heart Disease Risk

In studies involving large numbers of patients, CRP levels seem to be correlated with levels of heart disease risk. In fact, CRP seems to predict cardiovascular risk at least as well as cholesterol levels do. Data from the Physicians Health Study, a clinical trial involving 18,000 apparently healthy doctors, found that elevated levels of CRP were associated with a threefold increase in the risk of heart attack.

In the Harvard Women’s Health Study, results of the CRP test were more accurate than cholesterol levels in predicting heart problems. Twelve different markers of inflammation were studied in healthy, postmenopausal women. After three years, CRP was the strongest predictor of risk. Women in the group with the highest CRP levels were more than four times as likely to have died from coronary disease, or to have suffered a nonfatal heart attack or stroke compared to those with the lowest levels. This group was also more likely to have required a cardiac procedure such as angioplasty (a procedure that opens clogged arteries with the use of a flexible tube) or bypass surgery than women in the group with the lowest levels.”

Personally, I recently had my cardio doc order this test to get my primary MD of my back re my somewhat high VLDL and triglycerides levels. The cardio doc got involved when my PC doc discovere a mild congential heart murmur. Most of the time it isn’t heard. Several Navy MDs never heard it, it was never heard in insurance and company physicals, nor did my previous PC for 3 decades hear it, nor did his office RN, trained as an ICU nurse ever hear it. She is also my wife, and she has never heard the murmur.

My C-Reactive Protein, Cardiac test level this month was .016, which as about as low as one can be.