Your doctor will likely monitor your progress with a few follow-up tests to get a total picture of your overall health and to see if anything else might be affecting your risk of heart disease.
Your doctor may recommend a cholesterol test, which measures your cholesterol level (i.e., the fatty deposit buildup) in your blood. The information from this test is combined with other factors such as your family history of heart disease and whether you smoke. This information can help your doctor determine your target cholesterol level, as well as your risk level for other more serious conditions.
Another common test your doctor may recommend is the electrocardiogram (or ECG), which measures the electrical activity of your heart. This tells your doctor if any damage has been done to your heart.
You should also get your blood pressure monitored, since having high blood pressure puts a strain on your heart to work harder.
If you are taking cholesterol-lowering medications, your doctor may also wish to perform a blood liver enzymes test to check that your cholesterol-lowering medications are not damaging your liver.