Full Transcript Introduction: Why Statins Aren't the Whole Story 0:00 Your doctor wants you taking a statin because it lowers cholesterol. 0:04 But lowering cholesterol is not the same as identifying what is damaging your arteries. 0:09 It does not explain why your biology became abnormal and it does NOT remove the root causes driving cardiovascular disease. 0:18 I do not recommend statins. 0:20 Ever. 0:20 And by the end of this video, you will understand why I reject the statin first model and the four questions I believe every patient should ask before 0:30 accepting a lifetime prescription. 0:32 I'm cardiologist Dr. 0:33 Jack Wolfson. 0:35 Across more than 100,000 patient visits, I've learned that one cholesterol result can never tell you the full story. 0:42 If you want to know which tests may add important context to your cardiovascular risk and what you can do about the root causes, 0:49 then watch my free webinar, The Truth About Cholesterol. 0:53 The link is below. 0:54 Now here's question number one. 0:56 What is your real heart attack risk? 0:59 Before anyone recommends a drug, they should identify what is actually putting you at risk.
Question 1: Assessing Real Heart Attack Risk 1:04 Have you already experienced a heart attack or stroke? 1:07 Have You had a stent or bypass? 1:09 Are you insulin resistant? 1:10 Do you smoke? 1:11 do you have high blood pressure? 1:13 Things like inflammation, oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, elevated Lp little a or a high number of apo B containing particles. 1:22 Those questions matter, but conventional cardiology often reduces the entire conversation to one number LDL cholesterol. 1:29 Your LDL is high so you're told to take a stat. 1:32 Your LDO comes down so the treatment is declared successful. 1:35 But what caused the abnormal result? 1:37 Do you eat fake food? 1:38 You live under constant stress. 1:40 Do sleep poorly? 1:42 Sit all day? 1:43 Are you exposed to toxins? 1:45 Artificial light at night, mold and other harmful inputs? 1:49 Do you lack sunlight, movement, real food, restorative sleep, purpose and meaningful relationships? 1:54 A statin does not address those questions. 1:57 A normal cholesterol result does NOT erase those risks. 2:00 and a high cholesterol result by itself does not prove that cardiovascular disease is present. 2:06 These harmful inputs can disrupt metabolic and gut health, activate the immune system, increase inflammation and oxidative stress, 2:14 damage the endothelium, and create the biological environment in which these abnormal markers and vascular disease develop. 2:22 The real question is what created the problem? 2:25 That's where the investigation should start. 2:27 Now here's question number two. 2:28 What is your cholesterol panel miss? 2:30 Cholesterol is essential. 2:31 Your brain needs it, your hormones need it. 2:33 Every cell membrane in your body depends on it LDL is not a poison. 2:38 Calling it bad cholesterol stops the investigation before it begins. 2:41 The complete story, including how many APOB containing particles are circulating, whether those particles become retained in the arterial wall and whether
Question 2: What a Cholesterol Panel Misses 2:51 oxidative stress and inflammation damage the particles in surrounding tissues. 2:56 That's the question. 2:57 So do not ask how low can we push the LDL. 2:59 Ask what's happening to those particles and what the biological environment they are traveling through is really happening. 3:07 A large registry involving more than 130,000 hospitalizations for coronary disease found that most of those people had an LDl below 100. So that does not 3:17 mean that LD is irrelevant. 3:18 It means that conventional cholesterol testing does tell you by itself whether a serious risk is at play. 3:26 two people can have the same LDL and very different cardiovascular risk. 3:31 One person may have insulin resistance, inflammation, oxidative stress, and endothelial dysfunction. 3:37 Another person, may the have same ldl number, but a different risk, so one number is not the whole picture. 3:43 Depending on someone's history, I may look beyond conventional cholesterol panels and evaluate things like oxidized LDL, 3:50 inflammation, insulin resistance, homocysteine, total toxin burden. 3:56 I also look at things micronutrients, omega-3 levels, etc. 3:59 So these tests do not predict the future with certainty, but they add important context and help identify the biology that needs attention. 4:07 That's why I say, test don't guess. 4:09 Now, if you want to understand which tests may add context to your cardiovascular risk, I explain them in my free webinar, 4:15 The Truth About Cholesterol. 4:16 And if click the link below, you can reserve your seat in the next webinar. 4:20 So here's question number three. 4:21 What is the real benefit versus the trade-off? 4:23 This is where the numbers can become misleading. 4:25 You may hear that statin lowers your risk by 20, 30, even 50%. That number sounds really big. 4:31 But what kind of risk are they talking about? 4:33 They're talking about relative risk, which compares the change with a starting number. 4:38 But what you really want to know is things like absolute risk. 4:41 You want know things, like number needed to treat. 4:44 That's what we want now. 4:44 Imagine a hundred similar people followed for a specific period. 4:48 Without the medication, two people have a cardiovascular event. 4:51 With the medications, one person has an event, the risk fell from 2% to 1%. That is a 50% relative reduction. 4:59 Sounds huge.
Question 3: Real Benefit vs Trade-Off 5:00 The marketing companies love that. 5:01 But the absolute difference is one percentage point. 5:04 If 100 similar people took the medication for that period, one additional person would avoid the event being measured. 5:10 Not 50. One person. 5:11 Here's another hypothetical example. 5:13 16% relative risk reduction, but the absolute reduction would only be 0.16 percentage points. 5:24 These are examples, not predictions for any individual person. 5:27 Trial results depend on the population, starting risk, medication, dose, treatment duration, etc. 5:33 That is why you should never accept a relative risk headline without asking for the absolute numbers. 5:38 Make sure to ask your doctor for absolute risk reduction. 5:42 How many people experienced the outcome? 5:44 How may did not? 5:45 how long were they followed? 5:46 Was the out come a heart attack, a procedure, cardiovascular death or death from any cause? 5:51 These are really important things for you to know. 5:54 How many people would need to take the drug and for how long to prevent one event. 5:57 That's the number needed to treat. 5:59 Then look at the trade-offs. 6:00 Statins can be associated with muscle symptoms and maybe rarely serious muscle injury. 6:06 They may increase blood sugar and diabetes risk. 6:09 they also have rare serious liver injury and also cognitive issues for a lot of people. 6:14 But my objection goes beyond side effects. 6:16 A statin does not identify why the person became metabolically unhealthy. 6:22 It does not remove the fake food the toxins the chronic stress the sleep issues the physical inactivity Now it lowers a downstream marker while leaving 6:31 the upstream investigation unfinished that is not root cause cardiology Here's question number four. 6:35 What can you do instead not how low can cholesterol go? 6:39 You want to ask the four questions, why are my numbers abnormal and what dysfunction may be driving them? 6:45 Number two, what evidence shows that cardiovascular disease is actually present? 6:49 Third, What are inflammation, oxidative stress, insulin resistance, other advanced biomarkers and toxins really telling us? 6:56 And fourth, well, can I remove, restore, test, track and change to address the causes of my cardiovascular diseases risk? 7:04 Now you're talking about your actual biology. 7:07 Now, you are investigating what damaged the artery, what created the inflammation, What led to oxidative stress, and what caused the biomarkers to become abnormal.
Question 4: What You Can Do Instead 7:16 That is the conversation I want my patients to have. 7:18 My position is clear. 7:20 I do not recommend statins. 7:22 If you currently taking a statin, This video is educational and not any instruction to abruptly stop or change your prescription. 7:29 Medication changes require an individualized plan, appropriate monitoring, and supervision from a qualified physician who understands your medical history. 7:40 But do not allow anyone to end the investigation simply because a drug lowered your cholesterol number. 7:45 Too much fake food, too much stress, Too many toxins, to much artificial light, Too little movement, too little connection. 7:55 Essentially too much bad stuff and not enough good stuff. 7:58 That's where the problem begins. 7:59 And a statin drug does not address any of that. 8:03 The abnormal cholesterol result is not the beginning of the story. 8:07 Do not chase one number while ignoring the biological environment that produced it. 8:12 Look at how you eat, how live, think. 8:15 Identify the bad Restore the good. 8:17 Use the testing. 8:19 And again, if you want more information, click the link below. 8:22 Join our free webinar called The Truth About Cholesterol. 8:26 We'll talk about LDL, we'll about statins, and we will talk the real root causes of cardiovascular disease so you can prevent the number one killer.
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