{"id":10426,"date":"2024-08-21T12:16:56","date_gmt":"2024-08-21T05:16:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=10426"},"modified":"2024-08-21T12:16:56","modified_gmt":"2024-08-21T05:16:56","slug":"how-to-treat-high-lpa-an-atherosclerosis-risk-factor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=10426","title":{"rendered":"How to Treat High Lp(a), an Atherosclerosis Risk Factor\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">What could help <\/span><a style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/24079291\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">explain<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\"> severe coronary disease in someone with a healthy lifestyle who is considered to be at low cardiovascular disease risk? A young man ended up in the ER after a heart attack and was ultimately found to have severe coronary artery disease. Given his age, blood pressure, and cholesterol, his ten-year risk of a heart attack should have only been about 2 percent, but he had a high lipoprotein(a), also known as Lp(a). In fact, it was markedly high at 80 mg\/dL, which may help explain it. You can <\/span><a style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/30987918\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">see<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\"> the same in women: a 27-year-old with a heart attack with a high Lp(a). What is Lp(a), and what can we do about it?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>As I discuss in my video<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/treating-high-lpa-a-risk-factor-for-atherosclerosis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Treating High Lp(a): A Risk Factor for Atherosclerosis<\/a><\/strong>, Lp(a) <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28236286\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">is<\/a> an \u201cunderestimated cardiovascular risk factor.\u201d It <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/31280836\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">causes<\/a> coronary artery disease, heart attacks, strokes, peripheral arterial disease, calcified aortic valve disease, and heart failure. And these can occur in people who don\u2019t even have high cholesterol\u2014because Lp(a) <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/27173621\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">is<\/a> cholesterol, as you can see below and at 1:15 in my <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/treating-high-lpa-a-risk-factor-for-atherosclerosis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>video<\/strong><\/a>. It\u2019s an LDL cholesterol molecule <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/treating-high-lpa-a-risk-factor-for-atherosclerosis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">linked<\/a> to another protein, which, like LDL, <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/31350625\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">transfers<\/a> cholesterol into the lining of our arteries, contributing to the inflammation in atherosclerotic plaques. But \u201cthis increased risk <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/31280836\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">caused<\/a> by Lp(a) has not yet gained recognition by practicing physicians.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-108827\" src=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1-15.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1-15.png 1920w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1-15-960x540.png 960w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1-15-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1-15-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1-15-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1-15-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1-15-1200x675.png 1200w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1-15-720x405.png 720w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1-15-540x304.png 540w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\"\/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">\u201cThe main reason for the limited clinical use of Lp(a) <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28453625\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">is<\/a> the lack of effective and specific therapies to lower Lp(a) plasma levels.\u201d Because \u201cLp(a) concentrations <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/29747086\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">are<\/a> approximately 90% genetically determined,\u201d the conventional thinking has been you\u2019re just kind of born with higher or lower levels and there isn\u2019t much you can do about it. Even if that <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/31280836\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">were<\/a> the case, though, you might still want to know about it. If it were high, for instance, that would be all the more reason to make sure all the other risk factors that you do have more control over are as good as possible. It may help you quit smoking, for example, and motivate you to do everything you can to lower your LDL cholesterol as much as possible. <\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Lp(a) levels in the blood can vary a thousand-fold between individuals, \u201cfrom less than 0.1 mg\/dL to as high as 387 mg\/dL.\u201d You can <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/31061262\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">see<\/a> a graph of the odds of heart disease at different levels in the graph below and at 2:20 in my <a href=\"http:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/treating-high-lpa-a-risk-factor-for-atherosclerosis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>video<\/strong><\/a>. Less than 20 mg\/dL <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/31280836\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">is<\/a> probably optimal, with greater than 30 to 50 mg\/dL considered to be elevated. Even when the more conservative threshold of greater than 50 mg\/dL is used, that describes about 10 to 30 percent of the global population, an estimated 1.4 billion people. So, if we\u2019re in the one in five people with elevated levels, what can we do about it?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-108829\" src=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/2-20.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/2-20.png 1920w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/2-20-960x540.png 960w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/2-20-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/2-20-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/2-20-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/2-20-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/2-20-1200x675.png 1200w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/2-20-720x405.png 720w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/2-20-540x304.png 540w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\"\/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">The way we know that Lp(a) causes atherosclerosis is that we can <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/25340480\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">put<\/a> it to the ultimate test. There <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/27213629\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">is<\/a> something called apheresis, which is essentially like a dialysis machine where they can take out your blood, wash out some of the Lp(a), and give your blood back to you. And when you do that, you can <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/23357149\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reverse<\/a> the progression of the disease. As you can see in the graph below and at 3:06 in my <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/treating-high-lpa-a-risk-factor-for-atherosclerosis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>video<\/strong><\/a>, atherosclerosis <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/27213629\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">continues<\/a> to get worse in the control group, but it gets better in the apheresis group. This is great for <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/29096833\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">proving<\/a> the role of Lp(a), but it <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/25736345\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">has<\/a> limited clinical application, given the \u201ccost, limited access to centers, and the time commitment required for biweekly sessions of 2 to 4 h each.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-108833\" src=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/3-06.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/3-06.png 1920w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/3-06-960x540.png 960w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/3-06-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/3-06-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/3-06-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/3-06-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/3-06-1200x675.png 1200w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/3-06-720x405.png 720w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/3-06-540x304.png 540w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\"\/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">It <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/29096840\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">causes<\/a> a big drop in blood levels, but they quickly creep back up, so you have to keep going in, as you can see in the graph below and at 3:26 in my <a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/treating-high-lpa-a-risk-factor-for-atherosclerosis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>video<\/strong><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/16549089\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">costing<\/a> more than $50,000 a year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-108831\" src=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/3-26.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/3-26.png 1920w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/3-26-960x540.png 960w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/3-26-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/3-26-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/3-26-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/3-26-480x270.png 480w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/3-26-1200x675.png 1200w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/3-26-720x405.png 720w, https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/08\/3-26-540x304.png 540w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\"\/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">There has to be a better way. We\u2019ll explore the role diet can play, next. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">I\u2019ve been wanting to do videos about Lp(a), but there just wasn\u2019t much we could do about it until now. So, how do we lower Lp(a) with diet? Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion in my <a href=\"http:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/how-to-lower-lpa-with-diet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>next video<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>What can we do to minimize heart disease risk? My video <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/nutritionfacts.org\/video\/how-not-to-die-from-heart-disease\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How Not to Die from Heart Disease<\/a><\/strong> is a good starting point.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"et_social_bottom_trigger\"\/>  <\/div>\n<p><script>\n            !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n            {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n                n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n            if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n            n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n            t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n            s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n                'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n            fbq('init', '1582627921973608');\n            fbq('track', 'PageView');\n        <\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1675549\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What could help explain severe coronary disease in someone with a healthy lifestyle who is considered to be at low cardiovascular disease risk? A young man ended up in the ER after a heart attack and was ultimately found to have severe coronary artery disease. Given his age, blood pressure, and cholesterol, his ten-year risk &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}