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Cardiovascular · Marker 02

Lp(a) · Lipoprotein(a)

Lp(a) is a sticky particle similar to LDL, set mostly by your genes. Your level barely changes across your lifetime.

Educational, never diagnosticReviewed Apr 12, 2026

Common reference range

0–30 mg/dL

Worth watching
Above 50 mg/dL
Population median
14 mg/dL
Units
mg/dL

Your record always keeps the range printed on the report the result came from, which can differ from the range above.

Why it matters

What Lp(a) tells you.

About one in five adults carries a high Lp(a) and never finds out. If yours is high, it adds to whatever cardiovascular risk you already have. The test is a one-time answer.

Lipoprotein(a) is an LDL-like particle bound to a kringle-domain protein called apolipoprotein(a). Its concentration is roughly 80% genetically determined and stable across a lifetime.

Approximately one in five adults carries an Lp(a) above 50 mg/dL, the threshold above which long-term cardiovascular risk meaningfully accelerates. Most are never measured for it. It is a once-in-a-lifetime test that changes a decade of decisions.

What the record reads

The direction, not one number.

We measure once and remember. The number doesn't move; the decisions around it do.

Lp(a) · mg/dL · six results

Illustrative series

Once you file two results, the record compares them to each other rather than to a population average, and names the report each value came from.

What can influence it

The things that move Lp(a).

In rough order of effect, and read alongside your own history rather than on their own.

  1. 01

    Genetics

    Largely fixed at birth. The reading is the reading.

  2. 02

    Apheresis

    Reserved for extreme elevation with established disease.

  3. 03

    Niacin

    Modest reduction. Rarely prescribed for this alone now.

  4. 04

    Emerging RNA therapies

    Phase 3 trials underway. The first true Lp(a) lever may arrive within five years.

Daily things that show up here

  • Test once, then focus on what you can change
  • Be more aggressive about ApoB if Lp(a) is high
  • Tell first-degree relatives to test

In your record

What happens when a Lp(a) result arrives.

The same four steps for every result, whether you upload a report or type a value in by hand.

  1. 01

    Filed to its date

    The value is stored against the day it was drawn, with the report it came from kept alongside it.

  2. 02

    Named and normalized

    Lipoprotein(a) is recognised as one measure, so the same marker from two labs joins one series.

  3. 03

    Read in plain language

    You see what it measures, whether it sits in the printed range, and what usually moves it.

  4. 04

    Shared only if you say so

    A clinician sees this result when you grant scoped, expiring access, and the view is logged.

This page is educational. It does not diagnose, and it does not replace a conversation with a clinician who can see your history.

Where to go next

  • Start with one report

    Upload a single lab report and Lp(a) is filed to its date, named and read back in plain language.

    Create my free record

  • Find someone to read it with

    The directory opens filtered to clinicians who work with cardiovascular markers.

    Verified clinicians

  • Read the evidence

    The reading list opens searched for Lp(a), with every study linked back to its source.

    Studies on Lp(a)

Read alongside

Other cardiovascular markers.

Further reading

Longer pieces on this marker.

References

Where this comes from.

  1. Tsimikas S. A Test in Context: Lipoprotein(a). J Am Coll Cardiol. 2017;69(6):692-711. DOI
  2. Kronenberg F, et al. Lipoprotein(a) in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and aortic stenosis. Eur Heart J. 2022;43(39):3925-3946. DOI

Reviewed by Dr. Aaron Chen, MD · Cardiology · Last reviewed Apr 12, 2026