The Hidden Cholesterol Test That May Reduce Heart Attack Risk, According to a Cardiologist

Worried

about high cholesterol levels? Well, apart from taking a good diet, working out, and changing your lifestyle, here’s one thing doctors advise you to do, especially if you are in your early 30s. “A simple test can tell you the danger of a heart attack or a brain stroke,” Dr Aman Aggarwal said on his Instagram channel. The test is lipoprotein (a) or Lp (a), which is one kind of LDL or low-density lipoprotein. “You need to get it done just once in life, and it is not very expensive either,” Dr Aggarwal added.

Why is the Lp (a) test important?

Experts say a lipoprotein (a) blood test can give you a more accurate understanding of your risk than a routine cholesterol test that only measures your total LDL cholesterol level. It happens because a routine cholesterol test just shows that your LDL cholesterol level is "healthy," but if a large percentage of your LDL cholesterol is carried by lipoprotein (a) particles, your risk for heart disease and stroke could still be high. Cholesterol and saturated fats can lead to many dangerous health issues, as they create speed bumps of plaque that slow down your blood’s ability to flow through the arteries. Enough of these speed bumps can give you a blood-stopping blockage. And to make things worse, lipoprotein (a) makes your blood clot more and makes it harder for blood clots to break down. A doctor would want to check your lipoprotein (a) level if you already have other important factors that put you at a high risk for heart disease. Some of these factors include:

• A biological family history of heart disease
• Familial hypercholesterolemia
• High LDL levels from your most recent lipid panel test
• History of premature coronary artery disease
• Recurrent heart issues such as heart attacks or strokes, in the past
• If your immediate family member has elevated lipoprotein (a)

What should be a normal lipoprotein (a) level?

The lipoprotein (a) normal range is less than 30 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) of blood. Abnormal results would be:

• Borderline risk is 14 to 30 mg/dL
• High risk would be greater than 31 to less than 50 mg/dL
• The highest risk is higher than 50 mg/dL

According to doctors, it is more accurate to measure the number of lipoprotein (a) particles in your blood than using mass units like they do with mg/dL results. Results that measure how many particles you have will be in nanomoles per liter (nmol/L). High lipoprotein (a) is higher than 100 nmol/L.

Ways to lower lipoprotein (a) if the levels are high

While at present research is going on to develop drugs that can lower lipoprotein (a), you can still do other things to make your heart healthier, which include:

• Stop using tobacco products
• Exercise regularly
• Stay at a weight that is healthy for you
• Eat heart-healthy and nutritious foods
• Manage your blood pressure and diabetes levels
• Use medicine to manage your LDL cholesterol
• Manage stress in your daily life.