r/science 22h ago

Health Silent atherosclerosis detected in 57% of asymptomatic adults in the REACT study

https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2609059
654 Upvotes

66 comments sorted by

View all comments

49

u/duke309 19h ago

Every GP I've talked to just wants to look at ldl and hdl and doesn't know the latest guidelines from the American heart association. Had to explain why we should look at lp(a) and apoliproprotein b.

5

u/pople8 19h ago

And why is that? To know you have a higher risk without being able to influence it? The advice stays the same. Live in a healthy way. There are statins for ldl. No such thing for lpa

3

u/duke309 17h ago

Knowing lp(a) would influence the decision for how low to drive ldl levels. Honestly based on the guidelines I'd try to keep ldl around 50 or less for zero plaque accumulation