What Is ApoB? A Cardiologist Explains Apolipoprotein B, the Best Predictor of Heart Attack Risk

Let me tell you the number I care about more than almost anything else on your lipid panel. It is not your LDL cholesterol. It is your ApoB, short for apolipoprotein B. If your doctor has told you your L...

Do Statins Help You Live Longer? What the Mortality Data Actually Shows

There is a version of the statin debate that lives entirely online, where the drugs are framed as a way to lower a number on a lab report without changing whether you actually live or die. It is a clever argument because it sou...

The Cholesterol Paradox: Why Lower-Risk Patients Get the Biggest Benefit From Treatment

For years the standard advice has gone something like this: wait until your risk is high enough, then we will treat your cholesterol. The logic feels intuitive. Sicker patients have more to gain, so we save the ...

One Shot to Lower Your Cholesterol for Life: The VERVE-102 Gene Editing Trial

What if you could take a single IV infusion and permanently lower your LDL cholesterol by 62% for the rest of your life? No pills every morning. No injections every two weeks. No worrying about adherence, side effects, or...

Zero CAC Score? What a New Study Reveals About Silent Plaque Progression

Young, metabolically healthy, zero calcium score? Never head a heart attack before? No risk factors? You think you must be fine, right? Not so fast!

Most people assume that if they feel fine, their heart is fine. No chest pai...

Sleep Apnea and Heart Disease: A Cardiologist's Full Breakdown

Your partner tells you that you snore. You wake up exhausted no matter how many hours you sleep. You have been told you stop breathing in the night. You brush it off as a nuisance.

Here is what I need you to understand: obstructive s...

Research on Supplements That Affect CV Outcomes

“If it worked, it would be the next billion-dollar drug!”

That’s my response to so many people online when they ask, does XYZ work for blood pressure. Does waving magnets over your wrist reduce stress? Does red light sauna use help with anxiety?

Do ...

Can You Use Repatha If You Have Never Had A Heart Attack?

A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine has the answer. And it's not what we expected. For many years we have been using Repatha to lower the chance of repeat heart attacks and strokes in people who have already had them. Now, it ...

Do Statins Lower Testosterone?

I get this question constantly. A patient comes in for their lipid management follow-up, and almost before they sit down, they want to know: is my statin destroying my testosterone? They have read something online, or a friend told them, or they watched a video where ...

Is Very Low LDL Cholesterol Dangerous?

10 Common Fears, Debunked by a Cardiologist

Every week, I see patients who are reluctant to take their statin. Some have stopped their PCSK9 inhibitor. Others are terrified that driving their LDL cholesterol too low will melt their brain, cause cancer, destro...