In medicine, LDH is often used as a marker of tissue breakdown as LDH is abundant in red blood cells and can function as a marker for hemolysis. A blood sample that has been handled incorrectly can show false-positively high levels of LDH due to erythrocyte damage.
It can also be used as a marker of myocardial infarction. Following a myocardial infarction, levels of LDH peak at 3–4 days and remain elevated for up to 10 days. In this way, elevated levels of LDH (where the level of LDH1 is higher than that of LDH2, i.e. the LDH Flip, as normally, in serum, LDH2 is higher than LDH1) can be useful for determining whether a patient has had a myocardial infarction if they come to doctors several days after an episode of chest pain.