Heart Attack - Lipoprotein

Lipoprotein is a cholesterol particle. Elevated levels of lipoprotein in the blood results in an increased risk of heart attack, and the lipoprotein level is not associated with a person's LDL level.

Lp(a) was first pinpointed in the blood some 40 years ago, but doctors don't normally screen for this lipoprotein because no standardized screening exists and because even when the Lp(a) is known, very little can now be done to modify it. Unlike other kinds of cholesterol, Lp(a) in the blood is 95 percent determined by genes, so drugs and changes in diet have little effect on it, Danesh said.

Lp(a)'s exact role in the blood also is unknown, Scanu said, although researchers do know it's a fat-carrying particle that includes a protein that mimics the body's natural clot-busting properties.

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