Because Good Medicine Deserves Better Explanations
He wasn’t exactly a poster child for heart health. He loved steak, hated vegetables, and didn’t care much for doctors. His LDL-cholesterol hovered around 200 mg/dL (5.17 mmol/L) for most of his adult life. Yet, at age 88, his arteries were clean—and his mind sharper than ever. Meanwhile, his neighbor—an avid cyclist with “perfect” cholesterol—underwent … Read more
Coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring has quietly become one of the most valuable tools we have in preventive cardiology. It’s quick, non-invasive, relatively inexpensive, and remarkably informative. For those unfamiliar with the test itself, I’ve written an overview explaining what CAC scoring is and how it works— you can read it here. When someone’s CAC … Read more
For years, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) has been considered the main culprit in heart disease. The common belief is that high levels of LDL-C clog up arteries, leading to heart attacks and strokes. This idea has driven medical experts to focus on lowering LDL-C as much as possible, often using medications like statins. However, as … Read more
A recently published scientific paper shows that measuring cholesterol levels in the blood may not be an optimal tool to predict the risk of cardiovascular events (1). The study is especially important because our confidence in cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) in particular, has been pretty consistent for a very long time. The paper, published by Marston … Read more
Triglycerides are important organic compounds. Most of the fat we consume in our diet is triglyceride and so is most of the fat we store in our body. Fatty acids contained in triglycerides are an essential source of energy for human cells. Triglyceride concentration can be measured in blood and may provide valuable information about … Read more
