Four Numbers You Need to Know. Without Them, You Do Not Really Know Your Health.

Why these four

In 2004, the INTERHEART study in The Lancet compared about 15,000 people who had a first heart attack with about 15,000 who had not, across 52 countries. A short list of everyday risk factors accounted for about 90% of the risk in men and 94% in women. Blood fats, blood pressure, blood sugar and fat around the waist were all on that list.

The American Heart Association builds its own measure of heart health, Life's Essential 8, on the same four numbers plus four habits: diet, activity, sleep and not smoking.

Most people do not know theirs

According to the CDC, nearly half of U.S. adults, about 48%, have blood pressure above the guideline line, and only about 1 in 4 of them have it under control. About 1 in 6 of them do not know their blood pressure runs above the line at all.

Blood sugar is worse. The CDC estimates that more than 2 in 5 U.S. adults have blood sugar in the at-risk range the American Diabetes Association flags, and 8 in 10 of them do not know it. And about 86 million U.S. adults have total cholesterol above 200 mg/dL, the CDC says.

Most of these people feel nothing. The only way to find out is to look.

Blood pressure

Blood pressure is the force of blood against your artery walls, written as two numbers: the top one while your heart beats, the bottom one between beats. The American Heart Association calls under 120/80 normal. It moves all day, so a week of home readings tells you more than one reading at the office.

Cholesterol

A standard lipid panel gives you four numbers. LDL is the cholesterol carried in particles that can lodge in artery walls. HDL helps carry cholesterol away. Triglycerides are the main fat in your blood, and they rise with sugar, refined carbohydrates and alcohol. Total cholesterol sums it up. LDL gets the headlines, but the panel reads best as a set.

Blood sugar

Fasting glucose is your blood sugar on the morning of the test, after a night without food. HbA1c is roughly a three-month average. The American Diabetes Association lists a fasting glucose under 100 mg/dL and an HbA1c under 5.7% as normal. One is a photo and the other is the movie, so it helps to know both.

Body composition

Weight on its own says little, and BMI only divides weight by height, so it cannot tell muscle from fat. Body fat percentage tells you what your weight is actually made of. Waist size is a useful free check on the fat that sits around your organs: the American Heart Association flags a waist over 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women.

How to get them

Blood pressure: a validated upper-arm cuff at home, two readings morning and evening for a week. Cholesterol and blood sugar: a basic blood panel with a lipid panel, fasting glucose and HbA1c, through your doctor or ordered yourself. Body composition: a tape measure for your waist, and a body-fat scale or a DEXA scan for body fat.

Our articles on checking blood pressure at home, LDL cholesterol, fasting glucose and HbA1c, and body fat versus BMI each go deeper on one of the four.

Know them, then track them

One set of numbers is a starting point. The second set is where it gets useful, because it shows which way you are moving. Keep a copy of every result, check again on a regular schedule, and take anything that concerns you to your own doctor, who can put the numbers in the context of your whole health.

A Body By Numbers report turns your four numbers into letter grades and a Biological Age, so you can see at a glance where you stand and which one to work on first.