The Risk Factor You’ve Never Heard Of

Have you heard of the blood marker Lipoprotein (a)? You may see it abbreviated Lp (a). It’s more common than people realize, one in five people carry this silent heart disease risk and most people don’t know it. Over 90% of doctors don’t routinely check this marker either. The reason they don’t is that Lp (a) is a genetic marker and there is no medication to treat high levels of it. However, if you are forewarned that you have this marker, changes can be implemented to minimize this risk. The risk turns out to be pretty big for this marker as you have a 60% higher stroke risk if you test positive for high levels of it. Lp (a) also promotes inflammation and clot formation and turns out to be ten times more atherogenic (heart disease promoting) than LDL cholesterol. Remember that cardiovascular disease is the #1 killer in this country with over 800,000 deaths per year. This marker can be a great motivator to help people make changes towards a healthy lifestyle!