Essential 4: Health check blood test

What is tested in the Essential 4 package and why?

In this general blood test to test your risk of cardiovascular disease, several biomarkers are scrutinized. For example, cholesterol (total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglycerides, the ratios), blood sugar (HbA1c and glucose in urine), kidney function (creatinine, eGFR) and inflammation levels (hs-CRP) are important markers that can give an insight into the health of your body.

Below you can read why it is important to have an understanding of your risk and what can happen if you develop cardiovascular disease.

Cardiovascular disease
As part of this general blood test to assess your risk of cardiovascular disease, several biomarkers are evaluated. These include cholesterol (total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglycerides, and their ratios), blood sugar (HbA1c and glucose in urine), kidney function (creatinine, eGFR), and inflammation levels (hs-CRP). These markers provide insight into the overall health of your body.

It is crucial to understand your risk of developing cardiovascular disease and take steps to mitigate that risk. This type of disease involves the narrowing of blood vessels due to plaque formation, known as arteriosclerosis or atherosclerosis. Along with high cholesterol, many other factors can impact the quality of blood vessels and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

As blood vessels become narrowed, less oxygen and blood flow to tissues and organs, leading to a variety of symptoms affecting all organs to varying degrees. Regular health check up, including comprehensive blood testing, is an important step towards maintaining good health and minimizing the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Risk factors contributing to cardiovascular disease:

• Hereditary predisposition
• Smoking
• High blood pressure
• Underlying diseases such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and chronic kidney injury
• Obesity and little exercise
• Unhealthy eating and drinking
• Age and gender: men have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, also with age the risk of cardiovascular disease increases
• Descent: people with Turkish, African (Sub-Saharan), Hindu, Asian-Surinamese or Caribbean descent are more likely to have cardiovascular diseases

Symptoms that may indicate arteriosclerosis:

• Poorly healing wounds on the legs or feet.
• Leg pain on exertion, such as walking or cycling. The pain subsides the moment rest is taken. This is called etalage legs.
• An oppressive feeling in the chest and tightness on exertion or emotion, which subsides on taking rest. There are often accompanying symptoms such as radiation to the jaws and nausea. This phenomenon is called stable angina or heart spasm. If these symptoms occur without triggering factors, that is, without exertion or emotion, it is unstable angina pectoris and 112 should be called immediately.