Study Tells of Another ‘Bad’ Cholesterol

A little-known form of “bad” cholesterol that doctors cannot yet measure reliably may cause early heart disease just as often as its better-known cousins, a study suggests.

The lesser-known culprit, called lipoprotein(a), may lurk in dangerously high levels in the blood of people whose other cholesterol levels appear normal on routine tests, researchers say.

Excess levels of lipoprotein(a), which are particles of protein and fat in the blood, accounted for 10% of all cases of premature heart disease, those occurring before age 55, among the 2,191 men studied, said Dr. Andrew G. Bostom, who led the work as a research fellow for the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

The findings are published in today’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Assn.

The value of knowing an excess Lp(a) level is that it may warn the patient of the need for more aggressive treatment of other traits that also predict heart disease such as smoking, poor diet, high blood pressure and high blood sugar.