A cholesterol test you've never heard of is now recommended to prevent heart disease

"We know 80% or more of cardiovascular disease is preventable and elevated LDL cholesterol, sometimes referred to as 'bad' cholesterol, is a major part of that risk. Measuring additional biomarkers can give a more complete picture of someone's cardiovascular risk and help inform decisions about whether lipid-lowering therapy is needed sooner rather than later."

"Because lipoprotein(a) is genetically determined and relatively stable over a lifetime, the test typically needs to be done only once, ideally early in adulthood. Elevated levels signal an inherited risk for heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular conditions."

"The guidelines also call for wider use of coronary calcium scoring, which is a noninvasive scan that measures calcified plaque in the arteries. They also encourage health care providers to use a risk assessment tool called PREVENT, which can project a patient's 10-year and 30-year risk of heart disease to help guide decisions about starting medication."

Updated guidelines from the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology emphasize that over 80% of cardiovascular disease is preventable through aggressive cholesterol management. Beyond measuring LDL cholesterol alone, the guidelines recommend all adults receive a one-time lipoprotein(a) blood test to identify genetic heart disease risk. Additional recommendations include wider use of coronary calcium scoring, a noninvasive scan measuring arterial plaque, and the PREVENT risk assessment tool to project 10-year and 30-year cardiovascular disease risk. These expanded tools help doctors make earlier treatment decisions about lipid-lowering medications, particularly statins, to prevent heart attacks and strokes.

Read at www.npr.org