ADVANCED TESTING

At BCS Abundant Life Family Practice, we use advanced testing, meaning that we test for a lot of factors in your blood that reveal a lot of beneficial information.  A lot of people are not familiar with these labs and what they mean, so we wanted to include this section for reference.  If you have additional questions, please feel free to make an appointment to discuss them further.

Tropinin I

This is a test that we have been using in the emergency room for years to indicate heart muscle damage and the possibility of a heart attack.  We check an ultra-sensitive Troponin I that have shown that elevations in this marker are associated with a serious increase in risk of a heart attack.  Levels greater than 10 were associated with a 8.5 times increase in cardiovascular death, while levels 4.84-10 are associated with a 2 times increase in cardiovascular death or heart attack. 

BNP: 

This is a cardiac marker that is elevated when the heart muscle is stressed, especially in heart failure.  Elevation in this marker makes us concerned about heart function, although may be elevated in issues such as kidney problems.

hs-CRP

This is a marker for inflammation in the body, and is associated with a higher risk for heart attack and mortality.  It can be elevated in infection or trauma, but may be from the lining of arteries as well from atherosclerosis, hardening of the arteries that can lead to stroke or heart attack.  Lifestyle modifications such as routine exercise, and lowering cholesterol can help decrease this marker.

Lp-PLA2

This is a blood vessel- specific inflammation marker that is associated with rupture-prone hardening of the arteries (high heart attack and stroke risk).  Elevations could mean an increase in heart attack risk.  Niacin, Statin (cholesterol medications), and fish oil have shown to decrease this number along lifestyle modifications such as routine exercise and stopping smoking.

Homocysteine

Elevations in this marker are associated with increased risk of heart disease as well as dementia and maybe even depression.  See the article under the Medical Education tab for more information.  Methylfolate often with Vitamin B12 is often recommended when you have elevated levels.

Uric Acid

High levels of uric acid can lead to the arthritic condition knows as gout where a joint suddenly becomes extremely inflamed and is often recurrent.  Going on a gout-friendly diet (www.webmd.com/arthritis/gout-diet-curb-flares ) can help, but sometime medications are needed to lower this level.

Lipids  (Cholesterol, LDL)

High cholesterol has long been associated with increased cardiovascular risk (heart attack and stroke).  Specifically, elevated LDL (bad cholesterol) is directly associated with heart attack risk.  The higher your LDL , the higher the risk for heart attack.  Eating a healthier, lower-fat diet, such as eliminating fried foods and decreasing red-meats (beef and pork) and dairy can help.  Sometimes medications are needed to lower these numbers and cardiovascular risk.  Weight loss and routine exercise help lower your lipids.

Triglycerides

Triglycerides  (TG) are a fat in your blood.  High triglycerides are associated with an increased heart attack risk (increases by almost 70%).  We often see high TG in diabetes or pre-diabetes and losing weight and eating a healthier diet such as the Mediterranean style diet can help, as well as certain medications and niacin and omeg-3-fatty acids.   Routine exercise and weight loss helps lower your TG.

HDL  (HDL2 and HDL3) and APOA

HDL, or good cholesterol, is associated with lowering your heart attack risk and is good for you.  But, low levels of HDL indicate a higher risk for heart attack and cardiovascular disease.  Increasing exercise and omega-3-fatty acids help increase HDL as does some medications and Niacin.  HDL 2 and 3 are the subtypes of HDL.  Low HDL2 especially has been shown to increase heart attack risk almost 4 times normal in men, when lower than 25.  ApoA is the main protein in HDL, and so the higher the ApoA, the better.