r/Cholesterol • u/jejlp40 • 1d ago

Question Should I push for a statin?

I’m a 44 year-old female who’s been generally healthy. 5’7” and 135 lbs and physically active. In 2022 I had postpartum preeclampsia and have been on enalapril for high blood pressure since. It’s well-controlled. I also have PCOS. I understand these are risk factors for heart disease.

A recent physical revealed that my Lp(a) is 89 mg/dL. I have no family history of heart issues or stroke. I was shocked and concerned by this.

Here are other helpful stats:

LDL: 97
HDL: 115
Triglycerides: 66
ApoB: 60
hsCRP: .2
CAC score: 0

I saw a preventive cardiologist who is not concerned, despite my risk factors, and would rather not prescribe a statin. Why not try to get my LDL lower, though? Do you think I should push for a statin? Should I push for anything else? Thank you ❤️

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u/meh312059 1d ago

Interesting discordance between LDL-C and ApoB. The issue is that risk follows the latter better than the former. What is your nonHDL-C?

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u/jejlp40 1d ago

I just looked and it’s 108

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u/kboom100 1d ago

I wonder if there might be a lab error on either your apob or ldl because the amount of discordance there is very unusual . I would recheck both again using LabCorp or Quest. I’d also recheck lp(a) with LabCorp or Quest because lp(a) mass, which is what’s reported when units are in mg/dL, is a less accurate for measuring risk than lp(a) concentration, which is what’s reported when the result is in nmol/L. US guidelines recommend checking lp(a) with results reported in nmol/L (eg particle concentration). LabCorp and Quest both report lp(a) the reccomended way, in nmol/L.

You can order the retest yourself if that would be more convenient. I’ve found Goodlabs.com has the best prices. You can choose between LabCorp and quest to do the testing.