The Heart Disease Tests You Need

Learn about the array of tests that best screen for heart disease

Here’s a sobering statistic: 50 percent of the time, the first symptom of heart disease is a heart attack. Without warning, half of all people who have heart disease die without ever knowing they had it. That’s why taking advantage of the advances in cardiovascular diagnostics may save your life.

This is particularly true for those who have had blood relatives suffer heart attacks and strokes at young ages. For such people, periodic screening for heart disease should start as early as age 30. For those with no family history of heart disease or stroke, and no symptoms of those problems, screening can begin at age 50. Should you begin having unexplained symptoms at any age, you should be screened immediately.

To help you and your doctor determine which tests you need to assess your heart disease risk, here are descriptions of the array of heart health tests I use when evaluating and treating my own patients:

• Arterial Health Tests
• Aspirin Resistance Test
• Blood Inflammation Tests
• Blood Sugar Tests
• Cholesterol/Triglyceride Tests
• Heart Function Tests
• Stroke Risk Assessment Test

More Dr. Sinatra Advice on Heart Disease Tests

Undergoing heart disease testing but unsure what your scores indicate? Get my Sinatra Smart Zone values for a wide array of heart health tests to ensure optimal heart health.

Want to read detailed questions and answers about different heart disease tests? Check out the Q&A section of my Heart Disease Tests Health Center