Advanced Cholesterol Testing Specialist
CorCareTx
Cardiologists located in McKinney, TX
Standard cholesterol testing is only a starting point for evaluating your risk of developing chronic cardiovascular issues. The team of Brian Eades, MD, FACC, offer the latest in heart health screening through advanced cholesterol testing. As an established cardiologist in McKinney, Texas, Dr. Eades uses advanced cholesterol testing to understand your cholesterol levels, even if your cholesterol has always been normal. Protect your heart and start your cholesterol screening today. Book an appointment online or call the office to schedule.
Advanced Cholesterol Testing Q & A
Why do I need to have my cholesterol checked?
When your cholesterol is high, your chances of developing conditions that lead to heart disease drastically increases.
As your cholesterol surges, it sticks to the insides of your arteries. This plaque buildup narrows and hardens your arteries, which makes pumping blood harder for your heart.
What is advanced cholesterol testing?
Advanced cholesterol testing, or advanced lipid analysis, includes the standard lipid profile plus additional tests that measure particles. Dr. Eades and his team at CoreCare TX offer advanced lipid testing to reduce your risk of cardiovascular complication.
This test is important because some patients have a low level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol yet still have a high level of LDL particles (the type of cholesterol that clogs your arteries).
This means that either LDL particles are just small, or that LDL cholesterol is spread out among more particles than normal. With standard testing, your doctor only gets a snapshot of your LDL cholesterol. With the advanced cholesterol testing method, he gets to evaluate your level of LDL and other cholesterol particles.
Since a higher level of cholesterol-containing particles drastically increases plaque formation, standard cholesterol tests may overlook your risk of heart disease.
Can I prevent high cholesterol?
In many cases, yes. Some of the major causes of high cholesterol include:
- Poor diet
- Lack of exercise
- Being overweight or obese
- Smoking or secondhand smoke exposure
While these are all factors you can manage, high cholesterol isn’t always avoidable. Gender plays a role in high cholesterol. Men are more likely to develop high cholesterol earlier in life, usually in their 40s. For women, high cholesterol usually isn’t a concern until their 50s.
For some, no matter how hard you work and how well you follow a balanced diet, your cholesterol still skyrockets. This becomes an issue when high cholesterol runs in your genes.
You can’t change your gender or your family genetics, so you have to work closely with Dr. Eades to ensure that you take control of your cholesterol levels.