Lipid Panels

What is a lipid panel?
A lipid panel is a group of tests given to determine risk of coronary heart disease. Physicians use a lipid panel to evaluate the presence of various forms of cholesterol and other fats, or lipids, in the blood stream. Not all lipids are “bad.” Cholesterol for example is often thought of negatively, but not all cholesterol is bad for you. In fact, a certain amount of cholesterol is essential as it helps provide stability to the body’s cells [1].

Before having blood drawn for a lipid panel test, patients are asked to fast for 12 hours to eliminate fat recently digested which could skew the results.

A lipid panel typically consists of the following tests:

Total cholesterol;
Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol: LDL or “bad” cholesterol;
High-density lipoprotein cholesterol: HDL or “good” cholesterol; and
Triglycerides.

Other measurements that may be done include:

Very low density (VLDL) Cholesterol level;
Ratio of total cholesterol to HDL; and
Ratio of LDL to HDL.

How often is a lipid panel performed?
The American Heart Association recommends adults age 20 or older have a fasting lipoprotein profile every five years. However, people at high-risk for cardiovascular disease, or those with high cholesterol, should be monitored more often [2].

What do the results mean?
An HDL or “good” cholesterol score above 40 mg/dL for men and above 50mg/dL for women has been found to help protect against heart disease. An LDL or “bad” cholesterol score above 130 mg/dL may indicate a higher risk for coronary heart disease [3].

Is there another test patients should ask their
doctors about to assess heart disease risk?
Knowing a patient’s LDL score is helpful, but there is an additional test that reveals more information about the health of a patient’s vascular system and can also assess risk for stroke as well as heart attack - the PLAC Test for Lp-PLA₂ .

Studies show that the risk of stroke is twice as great for individuals with elevated levels of Lp-PLA₂ compared with individuals with low levels of Lp-PLA₂. For those with the highest levels of Lp-PLA₂ and high systolic blood pressure, the risk increases sixfold [4] [5].

An enzyme known as Lp-PLA₂ (lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A₂) circulates in arteries with LDL cholesterol and passes into the arterial wall where it contributes to the creation of foam cells. As more foam cells are created, they combine to form an inflamed plaque which continually degrades the fibrous cap which can lead to rupture, and clot formation. It is plaque rupture that is responsible for more than two-thirds of heart attacks and most strokes.

The PLAC^® Test measures levels of Lp-PLA₂ and is the only FDA-cleared blood test that aids in assessing risk for both heart attack and stroke associated with atherosclerosis. The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study found that Lp-PLA₂ levels were associated with ischemic stroke, even after adjustment for traditional risk factors (including LDL readings), body mass index, and CRP. It is important to realize that LDL is not a reliable predictor of stroke [4].

Early detection and more aggressive treatment can help prevent these cardiovascular events.

For more information please call (877) 752-2837.