Researchers in Denmark say they have found strong evidence that a usually ignored form of cholesterol may be responsible for heart attacks. Their research showed that people with elevated levels of lipoprotein a, about which little is known, were up to three times more likely to experience a heart attack.
Levels of lipoproteins can vary from one person to another by up to 1000-fold. Those with the highest levels of the cholesterol were between 2 to 3 times more likely to experience heart problems according to the study data, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The team analysed the genes of 45,000 people who had given blood samples as part of a national survey, started in 1976. The volunteers had their lipoprotein levels tested and were followed until 2007.
Lead scientist Borge Nordestgaard, of the Copenhagan University Hospital, said that the study had shown definitively that high levels of lipoproteins cause heart attacks. Currently, there are a variety of medications on the market that treat high cholesterol, called statins. These include Crestor (rosuvastatin) and Pfizor’s Lipitor. However none of these medications treat high levels of lipoprotein, though the vitamin Niacin and aspirin are also thought to reduce lipoprotein in the blood. Nordestgaard suggested that lipoproteins may be the reason that statins don’t work for some people.
The scientists have said that they hope their research will encourage pharmaceutical companies to invest in research into treatments that will lower lipoprotein cholesterol.