{"id":30353,"date":"2023-12-21T07:00:47","date_gmt":"2023-12-21T07:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/?p=30353"},"modified":"2025-11-18T20:28:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T20:28:17","slug":"clinical-trial-may-help-lower-inherited-risk-of-heart-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/updates-www.mccdn.io\/vitals\/clinical-trial-may-help-lower-inherited-risk-of-heart-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Clinical trial may help lower inherited risk of heart attack","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

On a Saturday morning, two days after his 50th birthday, Richard Tran went cycling with his friends, a group he regularly rides 20-60 miles with on weekends in the summer.<\/p>\n

When they took a break \u2014 about 40 minutes into the ride that day \u2014 Tran noticed something was wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy chest started to hurt and it just kept getting worse \u2014 nothing I did seemed to help,\u201d he says. \u201cThen my left arm went numb. That\u2019s when I wondered if I was having a heart attack.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tran was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where he learned his suspicions were correct \u2014 a blockage in one of his arteries had obstructed blood flow to his heart. His care team was able to clear the blockage and insert a stent (small tube) to keep the artery open.<\/p>\n

Tran made a full recovery, but he was left with an unsettling question: Why had his heart attack happened in the first place?<\/p>\n

\u201cI was 50 years old, in pretty good health, with no other issues going on,\u201d he says. \u201cIt didn\u2019t make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hunt for an answer<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Three months after his heart attack, Tran embarked on a quest to uncover what caused it. His doctor checked his blood pressure and ordered a lipid panel \u2014 a blood test that measures fat molecules called lipids, which can increase a person\u2019s risk of cardiovascular disease.<\/p>\n

However, neither of those screenings yielded results that would explain his heart attack, so Tran began doing some research.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnline, I found some instances of young people, in their 40s and 50s, having heart attacks, and most of them had one thing in common \u2014 high Lp(a) levels,\u201d he says. \u201cI had never heard of Lp(a).\u201d<\/p>\n

Tran isn\u2019t alone. While many are familiar with the role that high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides play in cardiac events, Lipoprotein(a) \u2014 also known as Lp(a) \u2014 and its risks are less known outside the medical community.<\/p>\n

Elevated levels of Lp(a) \u2014 a sticky molecule that carries fats through your bloodstream \u2014 can increase the risk of heart attack and cardiovascular diseases, such as arteriosclerosis<\/a> and aortic valve stenosis. <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe amount of Lp(a) is genetically determined for about 70 to 90 percent of people,\u201d says Dr. Vinay Malhotra, MD, a cardiologist at MultiCare\u2019s Pulse Heart Institute<\/a>. \u201cIf a person has elevated Lp(a) levels, it has nothing to do with their diet or lifestyle \u2014 they just inherited it.\u201d<\/p>\n

About one in five people inherit elevated levels of Lp(a), but they may not know it because it\u2019s not part of a standard lipid panel, and it\u2019s not common to test for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason many doctors don\u2019t test people for elevated Lp(a) is that we don\u2019t have good therapies to treat it and bring those levels down,\u201d Dr. Malhotra says. \u201cWhile statins can lower triglycerides and cholesterol, they don\u2019t make a substantial difference in lowering Lp(a).\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Should you get tested for Lp(a)?<\/h3>\n

Dr. Malhotra recommends talking to your doctor or other health care provider about Lp(a) testing if you:<\/p>\n