Ask For These Heart Tests Now!

I know - talking about blood tests for your heart is NOT sexy. It’s also probably not something you think about regularly especially when you’re struggling with other things such as burnout, insomnia, and brain fog. However, as cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of humans (not just women!) AND your risk goes up after menopause, I need you to focus on this now.

The thing about a “heart risk” is that you usually do not feel the symptoms. High cholesterol or high triglycerides don’t come with fatigue, hair loss, or skin changes. Next time you’re in to see your practitioner for fasting lab work, ask to add on these two key heart tests!

<Warning: I’ve noticed that it often takes your traditional health practitioner or insurance company longer to catch up to newer, important tests. These two tests might fall under that category. Don’t be surprised if they aren’t entirely sure why you’re asking for them. This article will help as I do NOT want you to be a walking heart risk.>

Lp(a)

Lipoprotein(a) or Lp(a) is known as “L P little a.” It has been rising in popularity due to the research showing the higher your level, the higher the risk you have for heart disease. This is independent of your cholesterol levels!

Lp(a) levels higher than 50mg/dL are linked to increased inflammation in the blood vessels and aortic valve stenosis (hardening).

Your levels are largely determined by your genetics. Sadly, diet, lifestyle changes, supplements and most lipid-lowering medications do not have much impact on it if its elevated. Research is continuing to explore this in detail. For this reason, some practitioners have chosen not to run Lp(a) as they feel there isn’t much you can do to treat it. I largely disagree as there is so much you can do to reduce your heart disease risk as a whole. Knowing this marker allows me, as a practitioner, to really explain how serious someone would need to take their heart health and tailor a program if their Lp(a) was high.

Ideally on testing, you want to be below <30 mg/dL.

ApoB

Apolipoprotein B-100 is also called ApoB. This is a protein that helps carry cholesterol through your body. Think of it like an Uber.

You have different types of cholesterol. You’re probably most familiar with the HDL and LDL types when you’ve tested in the past. Cholesterol is NOT all bad - in fact it does a lot of good for your cells and your hormones. The problem lies in accumulating too much in areas it shouldn’t be resulting in inflammation and plaques in your arteries. This leads to heart disease!

Research has shown that your cholesterol test is important however the basic cholesterol test you’re used to is a “concentration” - not an actual “particle count” of what you have going on in your body.

Concentration can be misleading in some cases. If I handed you a jar filled with pennies, you would likely say there is a heavy concentration of pennies in there. However, if I had secretly put a block inside the jar then filled the pennies around it so it only looked concentrated, you would be mislead and the actual count of pennies would be helpful to know. The same can apply(ish) to your cholesterol and risk.

Here’s why ApoB is both helpful and important. Only one cholesterol particle can ride inside an ApoB - specifically it’s going to be the more atherogenic types, like LDL. ApoB does not carry the HDL type, which you’ve probably heard of as the “good cholesterol.” For this reason, research shows that testing your ApoB levels gives you a great indication of how much of the more atherogenic cholesterol (like LDL) you’re dealing with by the particle.

At the moment, ApoB is not in any heart disease guidelines even though it’s directly related to cholesterol. However, it is slowly starting to make its way into routine testing. As a result, your health care practitioner may not know much about it yet. Given the research and its risk associated with heart disease, it’s a good one to request especially if you have personal heart risk factors or a strong family history of heart disease.

The generally agreed upon range is under 130 mg/dL. If you do already have heart disease risk factors such as hypertension, metabolic syndrome, diabetes type 2, high cholesterol, or a strong family history, most associations and organizations want it even lower for you (such as under 90mg/dL).

Next time you’re due for lab testing (which should be soon if it has been over a year!), ask for these two fasting tests in addition to your other heart health markers such as cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose and insulin. Don’t be a cardiovascular statistic if you can avoid it!