How to check your inherited heart risk if nobody has ever tested your Lp(a)

You can check your inherited heart risk with a single blood test for lipoprotein(a), usually written Lp(a), and you only ever need to do it once, because the level is largely set by your genes and stays stable through life.

Most people have never had it measured, and the reason is oddly mundane. In BC, Lp(a) is publicly funded. But it isn't printed anywhere on the standard lab requisition; it has to be written in by hand.

Why Lp(a) is different from your other numbers

• It's inherited. Roughly set at birth, and it doesn't meaningfully respond to diet, exercise or weight change.
• It's stable. This is why Canadian guidelines recommend measuring it once in a lifetime as part of initial lipid screening.
• It's independent. Elevated Lp(a) raises cardiovascular risk on its own, separately from your LDL or Apo B.
• There's a threshold. Canadian guidelines flag Lp(a) at or above 50 mg/dL (or 100 nmol/L) as the level warranting closer attention to your other risk factors.

What knowing actually changes

Lp(a) isn't a number you can work on, which raises a fair question: why measure something you can't change?

Because it changes the context for everything you can change. A raised Lp(a) means your other risk factors carry more weight, and it's information your physician can use when deciding how to manage the rest of your profile. And because it's inherited, a raised result is worth mentioning to close blood relatives.

How to get it tested

Through the public system: Ask your family doctor or nurse practitioner to include Lp(a), as it may not be part of routine bloodwork. If you do not have a primary care provider, you may need to visit a walk-in clinic first to get a requisition.

Through Numia: Lp(a) is already included in Numia's Cardiac Panel, together with ApoB, hs-CRP, a full lipid profile and VLDL. A licensed clinician orders the panel, a certified phlebotomist collects your sample at home anywhere in Greater Vancouver, and your physician-reviewed results are explained in plain English in one dashboard, with optional physician follow-up and specialist care coordination available when appropriate.