Health experts are urging doctors to provide more testing for a new marker of 'bad' cholesterol that can cause unexpected heart attacks in younger people.

Lipoprotein is the hardening and narrowing of the arteries in the heart and is one of the major drivers of heart disease.

Chang Cardiac Research Institute Executive Director, Professor Jason Kovacic, says we need to introduce more consistent testing for this type of cholesterol.

"There is no question that LPA is independently causal of heart attacks - but the good news is LPA is very genetically driven so we don't need to test for it every year," Professor Kovacic told 6PR Mornings.

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