Lab Markers12 min read
Lipoprotein(a) in Men Over 40: The Inherited Risk Marker You Only Need To Test Once
A man can eat well, train five days a week, hold an LDL of 90 and a waist under 90 centimetres, and still carry a particle that roughly triples his cardiovascular risk without ever appearing on his blood report. Lipoprotein(a) is not measured by a standard lipid panel, is not meaningfully changed by diet or exercise, and is set almost entirely by a gene he inherited before birth. Around one in five people carries an elevated level. This article covers what the particle is, what the nmol/L thresholds mean, why the genetic evidence is unusually strong, what actually moves the number and what does not, how androgens including testosterone therapy interact with it, and what the drugs currently in phase 3 outcomes trials are attempting.
Sep 5, 2026Read→