@drcoreyhelton
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@drcoreyhelton Most people assume that a normal cholesterol result means their heart is in the clear. Cholesterol is a waxy substance your body needs, but too much of the wrong kind can build up in your arteries, which are the vessels that carry blood away from your heart. So a clean cholesterol panel feels like a green light. Often it is one. But a real share of heart attacks and strokes happen in people whose cholesterol looked completely normal, and that gap is worth understanding. The reason is a marker most panels never measure. It is called Lp(a), said “L-P-little-a.” Think of it as a sticky cholesterol-carrying particle that you inherit from your parents. When levels are high, it can quietly raise your risk of a heart attack, a stroke, which is a sudden loss of blood flow to the brain, and narrowed heart valves, even when the rest of your bloodwork looks perfect. Two things make it worth knowing. Roughly 1 in 5 people carry high levels, and most have no idea, because Lp(a) is rarely included in a routine blood draw. And you only need to check it once in your life, since it is set by your genes and stays fairly steady over time. Knowing your number does not mean something is wrong. It means you can plan around it early, while you still have decades to work with. That is the whole idea behind looking upstream, meaning addressing risk long before it becomes a diagnosis, instead of waiting for something to go wrong. I break down which markers actually matter, and what to do with them, in my Field Notes newsletter. Comment NEWS and I will send you the link.
