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Hardly anyone knows him…Women beware! This blood value can save your life
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Most people know that high cholesterol levels can be dangerous. But in addition to the well-known “bad” LDL value, there is one that – if it is elevated – can be even more dangerous to us. We explain in the video why “lipoprotein small a” is so dangerous. Furthermore, Dr. Karsten Behle, an internist from Cologne, revealed in an RTL interview why menopausal women in particular should know their LP(a) value.
Never heard of LP(a)? Why you should know this blood value
Most people have probably heard of both blood lipid levels LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein) and HDL (High Density Lipoprotein) have heard. While LDL is actually the substance necessary for life cholesterol transported into the body's cells, where it can cause damage, HDL transports cholesterol back to the liver, where it can be broken down, as the Swiss Heart Foundation, among others, explains on its website. Therefore, HDL is also known as “good” cholesterol and LDL as “bad” cholesterol.
For those who can never remember what HDL and LDL are, which is the “good” protein and which is the “bad” protein, Dr. Karsten Behle, internist from Cologne, revealed a mnemonic in an RTL interview:
Now there is also the so-called lipoprotein small a – for short: LP(a). This lipoprotein also transports cholesterol through the body, but it can be much more dangerous to us than LDL. Because LP(a) is genetically determined and is considered an individual risk marker for strokes and heart attacks. In contrast to LDL, which can be prevented from harming us with cholesterol blockers, there is no medication against high LP(a) values. The problem: Only very few people even know that LP(a) exists and that the value can be determined using Blood test can determine. This is particularly important for women during menopause.
Why women during menopause should have their LP(a) value checked
Menopausal women in particular should know their LP(a) value, warns Dr. Behle. It is so, that due to the falling estrogen “more of this 'lipoprotein small a' particle is formed”. This means that the LP(a) value can suddenly increase in women during menopause.
Reading tip: Premenopause? Perimenopause? When menopause really starts!
Therefore, Dr. Behle recommends that women whose value before menopause was “borderline or still reasonably normal” have their LP(a) value checked again during menopause to see “whether it might have gone up”.
But it's not just women who can be dangerous if the LP(a) value is too high, as the case of Andreas Degen shows. For a long time he assumed that his blood would be checked regularly for everything important, but he thought wrong! His LP(a) value had never been checked for a long time, but it is at a high 130 mg/dl – normal is 30. We explain what this diagnosis means for him in the video above.
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Why is lipoprotein small a – LP(a) – known to so few people?
But why does hardly anyone know that the LP(a) value even exists if it is so important? “It’s just not part of the standard diagnostics, that is This is not shown in the health insurance diagnostics. You have to pay for it yourself if you really want it,” reveals Dr. Behle.
According to the internist, it costs around 20 euros to have this value measured – and to do so, recommends Dr. Keep everyone safe.
What to do if the LP(a) value is too high?
Is it of any use to me to know my LP(a) value if there is no medication available to treat it if the value is too high? Many people are probably now asking themselves. And the answer is: yes! Even if you cannot lower the LP(a) value by external influences, the German Heart Foundation explains on its website that if the LP(a) value is too high, it is important to “reduce the overall lipid-related risk”.
Means: Through Not smoking, physical activity, regular monitoring of blood pressure and blood sugar and lowering LDL cholesterol the overall risk of vascular diseases can be reduced.
Source used: own RTL research, Swiss Heart Foundation, German Heart Foundation
