Exams and Tests

It's important to track your cholesterol and risk of heart disease, heart attack or stroke. In addition to tests that measure different fats (lipids) in your blood, there are others that can be added, if necessary, to further define your personal risk of heart attack or stroke.

Routine Lipid Panel

A simple blood test – called a lipid panel – is used to check the amount of cholesterol in your blood.

Cholesterol is measured in milligrams (mg) per deciliter (dL) of blood – mg/dL in the United States. The test provides four measures:

Total cholesterol
LDL cholesterol
HDL cholesterol
Triglycerides

Target LDL Cholesterol Goals

To prevent a first heart attack or stroke, LDL cholesterol should be:

Less than 100 mg/dL for those at borderline or intermediate risk
Less than 70 mg/dL in those at high risk

For individuals with existing athlerosclerosis who are at very high risk of another event, LDL cholesterol should ideally be less than 55 mg/dL.

Lipoprotein(a) – checked once

All adults should have their Lp(a) level checked at least once. As many as 1 in 5 adults have a high Lp(a). Repeat testing is not usually needed as Lp(a) is mostly genetically determined and lifestyle changes don’t affect it.

Like LDL-cholesterol, high Lp(a) can cause narrowing of the arteries and damage heart valves. High Lp(s) can also increase the risk of aortic stenosis.

Apolipoprotein B (Apo-B)

ApoB can sometimes give a clearer picture of heart risk in certain circumstances. This is especially true for people with type 2 diabetes, high triglycerides, or cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome, even when their LDL cholesterol looks well controlled.

Coronary artery calcium (CAC) scan

Men (over age 40) and women (over age 45) may benefit from having a CAC scan done to check for calcium in the artery walls and early signs of plaque buildup. See more information.

Tracking Cholesterol Over Time

It’s important to track your cholesterol over time, especially because there are often no signs and symptoms of early buildup of fatty substances and cholesterol in the artery walls.

Talk with your health care team about how often your cholesterol should be checked and what numbers would be ideal for you.

When High LDL Cholesterol Runs in Families
If you have high LDL cholesterol that doesn’t seem to respond to lifestyle changes or medications, ask about familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). Learn more at CardioSmart.org/FH.

Last Edited 03/16/2026