Lipoprotein(a) is the strongest hereditary risk factor for heart disease. Each Lp(a) particle is basically an LDL cholesterol particle with an extra wrapper protein.
This statement is from lipidologists (basically, people who study cholesterol), but the American Heart Association released similar guidelines in Mar 2026 which recommend Lp(a) testing for everybody.
Only 1 in 400 people test Lp(a) today, although that's up 22x in the last decade: https://www.empirical.health/blog/lpa-testing/
Four major drugs are in development that target Lp(a) specifically; one of them lowers it by 94%.
