Lipoprotein

Lipoprotein(a) is a form of low-density lipoprotein, the so-called bad cholesterol, which can be deposited on artery walls and eventually cause heart disease. The association between lipoprotein and heart disease may help to explain why heart attacks occur in some people who have otherwise low cholesterol levels and who have no other major coronary risk factors.

In the newest study, conducted among nearly 600 women 65 or younger in Sweden, those with the highest levels of lipoprotein(a) were nearly three times as likely to experience a heart attack or the chest pains of angina as those with the lowest levels. The study, published in the current issue of Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association, found an increased coronary risk associated with high blood levels of lipoprotein(a) in women both before and after menopause.
Lipoprotein(a) levels typically rise after menopause, but not among women who take estrogen replacement therapy, suggesting that estrogen plays an important role in determining lipoprotein(a) levels in women.

In a study published last August in The Journal of the American Medical Association, elevated lipoprotein(a) levels were linked to an increased risk of heart disease in men under age 55. In that study, more than 2,000 men participating in the Framingham Heart Study whose lipoprotein(a) levels had been measured in the early 1970's were followed for an average of 15 years. In a previous study, Dr. Bostom and his colleagues had linked raised lipoprotein(a) levels to the development of premature heart disease in more than 3,000 women who were followed for an average of 12 years.

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