For those who have high cholesterol and don’t want to take statins or undergo a heart scan to determine if they have any significant plaque accumulation or blockage of their arteries a blood test measuring what is termed ApoA1 and ApoB and the ratio of these two substances can provide critical information about your risk of succumbing to a heart attack.
ApoA1 is a reflection of HDL status and all those mechanisms that remove unwanted cholesterol including LDL, which can obstruct our blood vessels, from our bloodstream. ApoB is a marker for all the atherosclerosis-inducing molecules and is thought to be a more accurate guide to heart disease risk compared with assessing cholesterol and LDL. An ideal ApoA1/ApoB ratio would be 2:1 while a movement in the opposite direction signifies increased risk necessitating a call to action which might include dietary changes, weight loss, optimising liver function, increased exercise and possibly even medications.
