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Cholesterol and
heart risk testing
A lipid profile, your overall risk worked out properly, and a plan that is not simply a leaflet about eating less butter.
A cholesterol number on its own tells you very little
People arrive with a single figure from a pharmacy machine or a corporate health day, and either alarmed by it or reassured by it. Neither reaction is well founded, because total cholesterol in isolation is close to meaningless. What matters is the breakdown, and what matters more is your overall risk.
Risk is calculated from the whole picture. Your age, blood pressure, whether you smoke, family history, ethnicity and other conditions all feed into it alongside the numbers. Two people with identical cholesterol can sit at very different risk, and the sensible action for each is different.
That is what this appointment is for. The blood test is easy. The useful part is a GP working out where you actually stand and what, if anything, is worth doing about it, including being told plainly when the answer is that you are fine.
What happens
Numbers, then context
The £89 consultation covers the appointment. A lipid profile is £75. The fuller cardiovascular risk profile is £375.
The appointment
At our Nine Elms clinic.
Working out your risk
The part a machine cannot do.
Who this is for
Reasons to have this checked
Family history
A parent or sibling with early heart disease changes your risk substantially, and is the reason to check earlier than you otherwise would.
A worrying result elsewhere
From a pharmacy, a work screening or a home kit. Bring it and we will put it in context rather than repeating it blindly.
Over 40 and never checked
A reasonable point to establish a baseline, particularly if other risk factors are present.
High blood pressure or diabetes
Both raise cardiovascular risk considerably, and lipids are part of managing them.
Before starting serious training
Sensible for people taking up endurance sport later in life, and often combined with a sporting medical.
South Asian background
Cardiovascular risk is higher, and often at a younger age, which is worth factoring in.
If you have chest pain, breathlessness on exertion that is new, or symptoms that come on with activity and settle with rest, do not book a blood test. Seek urgent medical attention. Call 999 if it is happening now.
Questions
Things people ask us
Do I need to fast beforehand?
Fasting is preferred, so book a morning appointment and have nothing but water for around twelve hours beforehand. A non-fasting sample is still usable and we would rather test you than have you put it off, but the result is cleaner fasted, particularly the triglycerides. Take your usual medication as normal unless you have been told otherwise.
My cholesterol is high but I feel fine. Does it matter?
High cholesterol has no symptoms, which is exactly why it gets ignored. That said, the number alone does not decide anything. What matters is your overall risk over the coming years, and for some people with a raised figure that risk is low enough that no treatment is warranted.
Will you just put me on a statin?
No, but we do prescribe them where they are warranted. Whether medication is worthwhile depends on your calculated risk rather than on one number, and it is a decision to make together. For plenty of people the honest answer is that lifestyle changes are enough, and we will say so.
What is the difference between the £75 and the £375 test?
The £75 lipid profile is the standard test and the right starting point for most people. The £375 cardiovascular risk profile adds apolipoproteins, Lp(a), high-sensitivity CRP and Lp-PLA2. Those are worth having where there is a strong family history of early heart disease, or where a standard result does not fit the clinical picture. Your overall risk is still calculated from the usual factors (age, blood pressure, smoking, family history) rather than from the extra markers alone.
Know where you actually stand
The numbers, your risk, and a plan that fits your circumstances.