A heart disease does not come announced. It has no externally visible symptoms and it usually does not give its victim a second chance at life. People have this tendency to ignore the threat of something this important simply because it does not stare down their faces as it arrives. Most people wake up to the very real risk of heart disease when they lose a colleague to it. The realization that you have arrived at the age when you should start worrying about a heart disease is hard to sink in, and dealing with it is equally hard.

So, how do know if you run a risk of cardiovascular disease in the absence of obvious symptoms? Cardiac arrests and related problems occur from clogging of arteries due to swelling or plaque formation. Without going into a long-winded labyrinthine discourse on the origin and causes that lead to a heart attack, the major factors that contribute to it can be summarized to a combination of a sedentary life style and a bad diet maintained through years of lackadaisical attitude towards one's own health. A bad choice of life style brings with it a varied brew of complications and cardiovascular problems simply happen to top the chart.

Most people consider Cholesterol as a definitive measure of the possibility of heart problems. And have a completely negative view of cholesterol. Some people have such a lopsided view of the matter that they consider Cholesterol a toxic substance that anyone could do without.

In actuality Cholesterol is a very essential ingredient of the cell membrane. But high cholesterol will lead to formation of plaque on the walls of the arteries the carry blood. This plaque could cause blockage and lead to cardiovascular problem. In cases where the cholesterol level increases to a point where it causes a cardiac arrest, surgical intervention would be required to either clear the block on the artery or bypass it altogether. Keeping tabs on the cholesterol level in your blood could go a long way in predicting the possibility of a cardiac arrest, but the cholesterol level is not the final word when it comes to your risk of cardiovascular problems.

Once, the cholesterol level of a person was deemed to be the authoritative index that perfectly quantized the risk he ran of getting a cardiac problem. There was general consensus that the amount of cholesterol in the blood correlated directly to the risk of a heart disease.

The level of CRP increases dramatically in case of an inflammation and could thus be used to indicate an inflammation of an artery that could eventually result in a cardiac arrest. Once you get your CRP and Cholesterol tests done, you can live with the confidence that comes from knowing that you have a happy heart.