Because Good Medicine Deserves Better Explanations
Sometimes, the most dangerous number isn’t the one your doctor talks about. While LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) steals the spotlight in most lab reports, it’s not always the best predictor of cardiovascular risk. Hidden in plain sight is a more powerful marker: non-HDL cholesterol (non-HDL-C)—a measure that captures all the cholesterol carried by atherogenic, plaque-building particles, not … Read more
The role of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in the evolution of heart disease is fairly well established. In addition, the benefits of pharmacological treatment with agents that lower LDL-C in high-risk patients are well documented. Lipoproteins are biochemical structures that enable the transport of lipids such as cholesterol in the circulation. LDL-C represents the amount … Read more
There are several reasons why we should be interested in the amount of cholesterol circulating in our bloodstream. However, to interpret our cholesterol numbers, we have to know certain things about cholesterol and its role in health and disease. What Is Cholesterol? Cholesterol is classified as a sterol (a combination of steroid and alcohol) … Read more
Most experts agree that diet is an important modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease and many other chronic noncommunicable disorders. Hence, defining and implementing a healthy diet is a matter of great public health interest. However, although there is substantial agreement on many issues, such as the importance of fruits and vegetables, several matters are still … Read more
The recently published results of the long awaited CANTOS trial may forever change our approach to the prevention and treatment of coronary artery disease (1). Inescapably, there is now proof that targeting inflammation, in this case by a drug, significantly improves outcome for certain very high-risk patients. But, as so often in clinical research, things … Read more