SPECIAL HEALTH REPORT

The Future Is Now:Little Known

Blood Tests That May

SaveYour Life

According to Michael Ozner, M.D., board certified cardiologist and advocate for heart disease prevention …

“The best way to detect metabolic abnormalities, like elevated (bad) LDL cholesterol particles or increased vascular inflammation (which may be present even if you feel well) is through a blood test. Detecting metabolic disorders is particularly important for uncovering hidden risk for heart attack, stroke, and vascular disease… allowing physicians to individualize treatment programs that will lower patients’ risk of disability and death from cardiovascular disease. Simply using a standard lipid or cholesterol profile (total cholesterol, [bad] LDL cholesterol, [good] HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides) uncovers 40 percent of heart attack risk, whereas an expanded cardiovascular risk profile, with tests such as LDL particle number and hs-CRP, can uncover 90 percent of heart attack risk. Performing regular blood tests is also essential for effectively monitoring already diagnosed conditions and ensuring that medical treatment and lifestyle changes are working.1

“The cost of comprehensive blood tests has decreased significantly over the past several years. And compared to the cost of treating heart attack, stroke, or peripheral vascular disease — that is, compared to the potential cost of not knowing what’s going on in your body and only being able to treat these conditions once they strike — it’s a steal!

Little Known Blood Tests That May

Save Your Life Life Extension Foundation®

For more than 32 years, the Life Extension Foundation has sought to help people like you live healthier longer. To that end, we’ve spent over $100 million on innovative anti-aging research, and made it our business to provide our members with products, services, and information to help them make better health decisions.

Based on the research we fund and the information we report, we’ve formulated some 350 different premium-quality, science-based nutritional supplements to help you achieve and maintain optimal health … and assembled an integrative team of Health Advisors to help you in customizing personal regimens of diet, exercise, and nutritional supplements.

With our help you can feel younger, stay healthier, and live longer. So call a Life Extension® Health Advisor at 1-800-226-2370 to get started today.

“The best time to have a comprehensive laboratory evaluation is when you are feeling well. If you wait until a heart attack (or stroke) strikes, you’ve waited too long. One-third of men and women do not survive their first heart attack, and those who do have to undergo expensive interventional procedures and lengthy hospital stays that can cost between $50,000 and $100,000. Long-term care can be very expensive, and the loss of your future earning potential can be significant. Prevention of atherosclerosis and heart attack or stroke is one of the most cost-effective strategies available — not to mention the non-financial benefits of staying healthy and productive and enjoying life.”

Now, if you get an annual physical, and everyone should, your doctor probably requires you to have a CBC/Chemistry panel as the mainstay of your blood work. That’s essential to heading off problems. But what about those lesser known, lesser prescribed blood tests that can make all the difference? Here are a few you should include, even if your doctor doesn’t normally prescribe them.

VAP™ Test The Vertical Auto-Profile (VAP™) provides direct measurement of your total cholesterol, HDL, non-HDL, density pattern, Lp(a), and apoB100 (a reflection of particle number). In layman’s terms, it

measures the cardiovascular risk potential of your lipid profile based on the amounts and sizes of cholesterol and other fat molecules that circulate in your blood.

This “higher resolution” picture of what’s really going on in your lipid profile can actually determine not only the types of cholesterol particles (HDL, LDL, VLDL, etc.), but also their individual size and density. And that’s vital because small, dense LDL particles put you at increased risk of heart disease … and you wouldn’t know about that risk from a standard lipid profile.

Knowledge of particle size and density is critical in determining what steps to take if you have

achieved your “target” lipid levels, but still have high-risk lipid particle types in your blood.

This test also measures lipoprotein(a), a particularly dangerous lipoprotein that can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

The VAP™ is also very useful in monitoring the results of specific treatments, like statin therapy, to ascertain their effectiveness in meeting goals.

Lp-PLA2 (PLAC) & hs-CRP TestsInflammation is involved in all stages of coronary artery disease, from the formation of plaque in the artery wall, to the plaque’s

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progression and rupture, to the clot that blocks blood flow to the heart muscle. The more pronounced your body’s inflammatory response, the more likely plaques are to form, rupture, and lead to heart attacks or strokes.

Chronic inflammation may also inhibit the release of nitric oxide, the chemical responsible for dilating blood vessels … which leads to narrowed arteries, decreased blood flow, and increased blood pressure. All of which make it easier for clots to block the flow of blood.

Any inflammatory state that becomes chronic, even on a low-grade level, is hazardous to your health. So doing your best to reduce

the cause of the inflammation is important to protecting your heart

— and your life. That’s why it’s critical to test for inflammation.

The two most commonly used biomarkers of vascular inflammation are Lp-PLA2 and hs-CRP. There are many clinical trials around the world showing that hs-CRP (a measure of C-Reactive Protein, which indicates inflammation) is a better independent predictor of heart attack and stroke than Lp-PLA2. However, Lp-PLA2 is a more specific biomarker of vascular inflammation than hs-CRP.2-4

These two blood tests complement each other, since taking both together is more predictive of a

Additional Resources for Your Review:

Blood Testing that Can Save Your Life, Life Extension Magazine®, May 2012

Online Magazine Articles

http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2012/may2012_Blood-Testing-Can-Save-Your-Life_01.htm?source=search&key=blood%20testshttp://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2012/may2012_Blood-Testing-Can-Save-Your-Life_01.htm?source=search&key=blood%20tests

potential cardiovascular event than either test alone. In fact, elevated Lp-PLA2 tells us that the risk of stroke is increased fivefold, whereas elevated Lp-PLA2 and hs-CRP tells us that the risk is increased elevenfold.

Kind of important to know … so get them both!

Omega Score™ TestOmega-3 fatty acids combat cardiovascular disease by suppressing factors that cause inflammation, by elevating good cholesterol (HDL), and reducing both triglycerides and VLDL (very-low-density lipoprotein). So you take fish oil to get your daily supply of omega-3 fatty acids. But do you take enough?

The ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids in your red blood cell membranes strongly influences your cardiovascular disease risk factors. So you need to determine just how much omega-3 your body is metabolizing and absorbing into your blood. This blood test gives you that ratio, so you can determine your cardiac risk and work to avoid it with more accurate omega-3 dosing.

This at-home test measures your Omega-3 Whole Blood Score; Omega-3 Equivalence Score; Omega-3 EPA/DHA Equivalence Score; Omega-3 Red Blood Cell Equivalence Score; plus a complete

breakdown of fatty acids by percentage, including the AA/EPA ratio and the Omega-3/Omega-6 ratio. It’s that comprehensive. And it can be easily repeated as required to help you minimize your risk of developing heart disease or having a sudden heart attack.

The higher your omega-3 scores, the lower your risk of a cardiac event. And studies substantiate that the risk of heart attack is reduced 62% for every 1.24% increase in whole-blood EPA/DHA.5 Omega Score™ is a trademark of Lipid Analytical Laboratories, Inc.

Vitamin D Test (25-hydroxyvitamin D) Long-recognized for its importance in maintaining bone strength and promoting calcium absorption, vitamin D has now exploded onto center stage as possibly the most important vitamin you can take to reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer, immune deficiency and overall mortality.6-17

Despite vitamin D’s proven value, a shockingly large proportion of people don’t get enough of it.18,19 Vitamin D is converted to its active form by sunlight acting on skin, and many people may not get enough sunlight … especially in the winter. Or the fact that aging skin is less effective at converting vitamin D into its active form may be the problem,

making the risk of deficiency greater as people grow older.20

Scientists are now redefining blood levels of vitamin D that are considered optimal. Indeed, the term

“vitamin D insufficiency” is now used to describe vitamin D levels that are above the bare minimums needed for bone health … but below the middle of the so-called optimal range.21,22 A whopping one billion people in the world are currently vitamin D deficient by these newer, more rigorous criteria, and nutritionists now strongly recommend monitoring levels of vitamin D in the blood.12,23,24

Life Extension recommends that a healthy serum level of vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D) is 50–80 ng/mL based on LabCorp’s current testing method, with the most recent research suggesting that maintaining levels in the upper one-third of the range is optimal.

Vitamin D levels don’t always correspond to the doses of vitamin D supplements you take or to sunlight exposure. Factors like body mass affect how much supplemental vitamin D is needed to achieve optimal ranges. Those who take at least 5,000 IU a day of supplemental vitamin D (up to 7,000 IU a day during cold and flu season) are probably in favorable ranges. To make sure you’re taking enough, get a vitamin D blood test.

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References: 1. Ozner M. Heart Attack Proof – A Six-Week Cardiac

Makeover for a Lifetime of Optimal Health, 2012 BenBella Books Inc. page 90.

2. Am J Cardiol. 2007 Mar 1;99(5):718-25.3. Biomarkers. 2012 Jun;17(4):289-302.4. Am J Epidemiol. 2004 May 1;159(9):882-90.5. Am J Cardiol. 2007 Jan 15;99(2):154-8.6. Curr Vasc Pharmacol. 2009 Jul;7(3):414-22.7. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Oct;93(10):3927-35. 8. Arch Intern Med. 2008 Jun 9;168(11):1174-80.9. Ann Epidemiol. 2009 Jul;19(7):468-83.10. World J Gastroenterol. 2009 Jul 21;15(27):3349-54.11. Arch Intern Med. 2009 Feb 23;169(4):384-90.12. Minerva Endocrinol. 2011 Sep;36(3):257-66.13. Nutr Rev. 2008 Oct;66(10 Suppl 2):S182-94.

So call the Life Extension Blood Lab now at 1-800-208-3444 toll-free to find out about these and other affordable blood tests you can’t afford to overlook.

www.LifeExtension.com

14. Arq Bras Endocrinol Metabol. 2011 Nov;55(8): 566-75.

15. Allergy Asthma Proc. 2011 Nov-Dec;32(6):438-44. 16. Endocrinol (Oxf ). 2012 Mar;76(3):315-25. 17. Autoimmun Rev. 2011 Oct;10(12):733-43. Epub

2011 May 18.18. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Aug;88(2):558S-64S.19. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Dec;88(6):1519-27. 20. Cancer Causes Control. 2010 Dec;21(12):2315-6.21. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2009 Nov-Dec;49(3):364-7.22. Ann Intern Med. 2012 May 1;156(9):627-34.23. N Engl J Med. 2007;357(3):266-281. 24. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Mar;79(3):362-71.

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