461: High Cholesterol and What ACTUALLY Causes Heart Attacks with Cardiologist Dr. Joel Kahn

Did you know that heart disease kills more midlife women than cancer, yet, most doctors aren’t testing correctly? Heart disease is super close and personal to me. It’s how I lost my dad when he was just 49…so it really hits home. Most of us think of men when we hear about heart attacks or heart disease, but did you know it’s the #1 killer of women over 45? Yet most of us are completely focused on the wrong risk factors (yep, including most doctors).

In this conversation, I sat down with cardiologist Dr. Joel Kahn, who's been practicing for 35 years and has a fascinating perspective that challenges much of what we've been told about heart health (in a great way). We get personal - I share my own labs live on air as Dr. Kahn walks through exactly what these numbers mean and what we should actually be testing for instead of the basic panel most doctors order.

We dive deep into why women present with heart disease so differently than men, the tests every woman over 45 should demand from their doctor, and why your calcium score might be more important than your cholesterol number. You’ll discover the real story behind the cholesterol controversy that's been raging since the 1970s, when statins are actually necessary, the shocking connection between how you cook your food and arterial aging, why antibacterial mouthwash might be damaging your blood vessels, and the advanced lab tests that give you real answers about your cardiovascular risk - not just outdated calculations from the 1960s.

If you've ever been confused about conflicting advice on saturated fat, wondered if you really need that statin prescription, or want to know what actually protects your heart as you age, this episode provides the clarity you've been searching for. Dr. Kahn brings decades of research and clinical experience to help us separate the marketing from the medicine when it comes to women's heart health.

 

Catch the full episode on YOUTUBE HERE: https://bit.ly/MidlifeConversationsYouTube 

 

Learn More About Dr. Joel Kahn:  

Instagram ➜ https://www.instagram.com/drjkahn   

Website ➜ https://drjoelkahn.com 

 

Additional Episode Resources:

• Prevent Calculator: https://professional.heart.org/en/guidelines-and-statements/prevent-calculator 

• Book: "Lipoprotein(a): The Heart's Quiet Killer" 

• Study Dr. Kahn was co-author on establishing lifelong exposure to either slight reductions in LDL-C or slight elevations determines heart disease risk long term. Widely quoted paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23083789/

• The most widely quoted paper establishing LDL-C as a cause, not just risk factor, of atherosclerosis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28444290/

• A recent paper on Lipoprotein(a) cholesterol inherited by 20-25% of people, not currently FDA approved Rx as statins do not work for it, but new Rx med in the pipeline. Similar risk to men and women: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40240882/

• Try a bottle of the world’s most delicious artisanal, high-quality olive oils direct from gold-medal-winning small farms for just $1 and taste the difference