The Truth About Statins From a Heart Surgeon

In today's video, Dr. Jeremy London, MD, a board-certified cardiovascular surgeon, shares his thoughts on statins, cholesterol, and heart attacks.

He explains why cholesterol is essential to the body, why ApoB is the main culprit, and how medications can help reduce risk.

He also addresses statin side effects, statins vs. dementia, and other medications that are widely available.

By the end of this video, you have a much better understanding of cholesterol, ApoB, statins, and heart disease.

Make sure to check out my article "How to Lower Your ApoB (Apolipoprotein B)": https://drjeremylondon.com/articles/how-to-lower-your-apob-apolipoprotein-b

Thank you to our sponsor:

Function Health: Where my family and I test our ApoB and 160+ lab tests for less than $1/day at: https://functionhealth.com/london

Jeremy London, MD:

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Studies & Resources:

Evaluating the relationship between circulating lipoprotein lipids and apolipoproteins with risk of coronary heart disease: A multivariable Mendelian randomization analysis: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7089422/

Association of Triglyceride-Lowering LPL Variants and LDL-C–Lowering LDLR Variants With Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2722770?

A meta-analysis of 25 randomized trials (46,836 patients) found no difference between statin and placebo in cognitive adverse events or cognitive test scores: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11606-014-3115-3

PROSPER randomized 5,804 adults aged 70–82 to pravastatin or placebo for ~3.5 years, with cognition tested at six points during the trial. Cognition declined at the same rate in both groups — and this is the age group that should be most sensitive to any harm: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00415-009-5271-7

EBBINGHAUS (evolocumab) and alirocumab cognitive studies found no cognitive decline even when LDL was driven very low. If lowering cholesterol starved the brain, we’d see it there: https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa1701131

STAREE, just published in NEJM, randomized adults 70 and older with no history of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or dementia to atorvastatin 40 mg or placebo. Over a median of 5.9 years, major cardiovascular events fell by 30% with atorvastatin. Death, dementia, or persistent disability was not worse on the statin: https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2607314

Timestamps:

0:00 My Take on Cholesterol and Statins

0:41 ApoB: Why Cholesterol Particle Count Matters

2:07 How Metabolic Health Affects Your Arteries

3:48 Lifestyle Changes and When to Consider Medication

7:14 Statins: Benefits, Side Effects, and Alternatives

10:04 Cholesterol, Brain Health, and Your Prevention Plan

** The information in this video is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images, and information, contained in this video is for general information purposes only and does not replace a consultation with your own doctor/health professional ** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices