Genetically driven 'bad' cholesterol levels linked to heart risk in women

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-01-08 03:00

International

Photo by jesse orrico on Unsplash. Story by Rachel McDonald, Australian Science Media Centre

Particularly high levels of a 'bad' cholesterol driven mostly by genetics is linked to a higher risk of heart disease in women, according to international research. Lipoprotein(a) levels are mostly determined genetically and difficult to influence with lifestyle changes, the researchers say, and high levels have been linked to various health problems. To determine how lipoprotein(a) influences heart risk in women, the researchers recorded levels from over 27,000 healthy women, and followed up with them for nearly 30 years. They say women with higher levels of lipoprotein(a) faced higher risks of major heart events and heart disease, while only women with the highest levels of lipoprotein(a) faced higher risks of stroke and heart death, the researchers say.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Cardiology

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Brigham and Women’s Hospital, USA

Funder: TheWomen’s Health Study was supported by grants from the US National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (HL043851, HL080467, and HL099355) and the US National Cancer Institute (CA047988 and CA182913). The writing of this study was supported by the Independent Research Fund Denmark (10.46540/3165-00227B).

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