Heart markers your GP rarely checks.

Cardiovascular disease remains the biggest killer in the UK, and the frustrating part is how much of it is measurable decades in advance. Most people's knowledge of their own heart risk begins and ends with a total cholesterol number from an NHS Health Check. That number is a start, but it hides more than it shows, and the markers that sharpen the picture are cheap, well validated and rarely tested.

The standard lipid panel covers total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides and the non-HDL figure NICE now prefers for risk decisions. Beyond it sit three markers worth knowing about. ApoB counts the actual number of artery-damaging particles, which is why two people with the same LDL can carry very different risk. Lp(a) is an inherited particle, elevated in roughly one in five people, that European guidelines say deserves measuring at least once in a lifetime. And hs-CRP picks up the chronic low-grade inflammation that accelerates atherosclerosis. Each has its own plain-English guide below, alongside honest reviews of the supplements people take for cholesterol.

Testing is worth considering if heart disease runs in your family, if your weight, blood pressure or lifestyle has changed, if you are past 40 and have never seen a full lipid picture, or if you are making changes, dietary or medical, and want to know whether they are working. Numbers first, decisions second.

At-home testing works with a finger-prick kit posted to a UKAS-accredited UK laboratory, with results reviewed by a qualified clinician, usually within days. It is education rather than diagnosis: a raised result is a reason to talk to your GP, who can assess your overall risk properly and discuss what, if anything, to do about it.