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 measure
