Dr. Koren joins Kevin Geddings to report live from the American Heart Association meeting in New Orleans with fresh results on LDL lowering, prevention, and the future of gene editing for cholesterol. They discuss the excitement of big meetings like the AHA and how results can even surprise the investigators that were working on a study.
Note: Dr. Koren refers to CRISPR Therapeutics, a company developing gene-based cholesterol lowering technologies. CRISPR-Cas9 is also the general name of a gene editing technique.
Be a part of advancing science by participating in clinical research.
Have a question for Dr. Koren? Email him at askDrKoren@MedEvidence.com
Listen on Spotify
Listen on Apple Podcasts
Watch on YouTube
Share with a friend. Rate, Review, and Subscribe to the MedEvidence! podcast to be notified when new episodes are released.
Follow us on Social Media:
Facebook
Instagram
X (Formerly Twitter)
LinkedIn
Want to learn more? Checkout our entire library of podcasts, videos, articles and presentations at www.MedEvidence.com
Music: Storyblocks - Corporate Inspired
Thank you for listening!
Episode Transcript
Welcome to the MedEvidence Monday Minute Radio
Show, hosted by Kevin Geddingsof WSOS St. Augustine Radio and
powered by ENCORE ResearchGroup.
Each Monday morning, Dr.
Michael Koren calls in to bringyou the latest medical
updates and insightful discusions.
MedEvidence is where we helpyou navigate the real truth
behind medical research withBoth a clinical and research
(00:20):
perspective.
So sit back, relax, and getready to learn about the truth
behind the data of medicine andhealthcare. This is MedEvidence!
Kevin Geddings (00:30):
Joining me live on the studio line, Dr.
Michael Koren, medical doctor,cardiologist, research
scientist, and we enjoy our timewith him typically on Monday
mornings around this time.
And today, calling in live fromthe American Heart Association
meeting going on in New Orleans.
Dr.
Koren, good morning.
Dr. Michael Koren (00:46):
Good morning, Kevin.
How are you?
Well, doing well, doing well.
I've already seen some news,big media headlines coming out
of the meeting that you'rethere.
But what what are you, youknow, what's your sort of
takeaway of some of the bigheadlines coming from that
meeting?
It's been a very exciting meeting, in fact.
And just for those people whoaren't familiar with this
concept, we have big medicalconferences typically where the
(01:08):
results of clinical trials areshared with the entire community
of physicians from around theworld.
So it's a really exciting eventfor all of us.
And this year the focus hasbeen these tremendous results on
the cholesterol front.
And when I say cholesterol,these are all things that have
to do with blood fats, includingLDL cholesterol, which uh
people usually understand asquote the bad cholesterol, a
(01:32):
form of what we call alipoprotein, which is a
combination of fats and proteinsthat causes all kinds of
problems when it's at highlevels in patients who are at
risk for heart disease.
So this uh particularconference was exciting because
it was a study that we were veryinvolved with, including a lot
of patients in Northeast Floridaand St.
(01:53):
Augustine.
And this study was called theVesalius study.
And the results show that usinga drug called Repatha resulted
in much better outcomes forpeople who have not had a
previous heart attack or stroke,but were at risk for those
problems.
So this drug actually preventedthe development of those
problems over the course of fourand a half years.
(02:14):
So that was a really, reallybig result, and everybody was
talking about it.
So if you're a patient in St.
Augustine that was part of thetrial and your ears are ringing,
it's because we were talkingabout you here in New Orleans.
Kevin Geddings (02:27):
That's exciting.
But a great illustration,right, Dr.
Koren, of when you get toparticipate in these studies
right there at the WhetstoneBuilding in St.
Augustine, you know, you'rebasically at the leading edge
of, you know, a global effort tomake us a little bit healthier,
right?
Dr. Michael Koren (02:42):
Absolutely.
This is how we learn.
We like to say in MedEvidencethat there's stuff that we know
is stuff we don't know, andthere's a process by which we
learn things.
And in this particular case,people who were at intermediate
risk of having a heart attack orstroke may not have felt
completely comfortable gettingvery aggressive at lowering
(03:02):
their cholesterol.
And now we know, in fact, theyshould.
They should be speaking withtheir physicians or getting
involved in future clinicalresearch and getting that LGL
cholesterol down as low aspossible.
Kevin Geddings (03:13):
Yeah.
That's Dr.
Michael Koren once again.
One of the headlines I saw oncoming from your study or from
the event that you're at in NewOrleans, the American Heart
Association event, Dr.
Koren, has to do with a shotthat we could take that will be
like a once-in-a-lifetime sortof thing that could reduce our
bad cholesterol for decades.
Dr. Michael Koren (03:30):
Yeah, yeah.
So I'm glad you brought thatup.
So these are now the latest ingene therapy.
People may have heard this,they may have heard of a company
called CRISPR.
And these are now therapiesthat will actually change the
genes in your liver to preventthe actual cause of certain
(03:51):
cholesterol problems.
So if anybody's listening to usand is interested in these
things, please let me knowbecause it's coming to a
clinical trial site near you inthe very near future.
And these things were discussedat the American Heart
Association meeting.
So a really a whole newfrontier in the way we treat
things.
And keep in mind uh CRISPR is acompany that helped develop a
(04:13):
cure for sickle cell anemia.
You may have remembered thatfrom a couple of years ago.
That these ways of changing thegenetics of certain people are
now coming to a clinic, aresearch clinic near you.
And uh we're super excited tobe part of this.
And if people are interested inlearning more about it and have
a severe problem withcholesterol or triglycerides,
(04:34):
let us know and we can tell youwhat's going on the latest and
greatest about how this might besomething that's a solution at
some point in the near future.
Kevin Geddings (04:43):
Right.
I was wondering when you're atthese conferences and you know,
the latest in clinical researchis being shared, is this uh on
occasion, is it the first timeyou've ever heard of things, or
are there other forms ofcommunication where doctors and
research scientists like youkind of already know what's
going to happen?
Dr. Michael Koren (04:59):
Well, there's a lot of things that I hear
about for the first time.
So I mentioned the Vesaliusstudy.
Because I was an investigatorin that study, I'm very well
aware of what's going on.
But even for us, we are blindedduring the course of the study,
so we do not know the resultsuntil we come to these meetings.
And there's a big reveal here,and it's really exciting, and
everybody's high fiving eachother, and we're getting r
(05:22):
really pumped up about it.
But there are things that areobscured that I may not know
about at all.
So that's fun.
Sometimes I'll just spend acouple hours of the meeting
picking a a random classroom andjumping in and see if there's
something new that I can learnabout.
So for example, this yearthere's a condition called
hypertrophic cardiomyopathywhere your heart gets really
(05:43):
thick and um sometimes it worksin a way where it gets in its
own way.
It starts blocking blood flow.
And I saw this really prettycrazy surgery that was developed
in China where they can make alittle incision in your heart
and shave away the part of theheart that's thick and getting
(06:04):
in its own way.
Kevin Geddings (06:05):
Wow.
Dr. Michael Koren (06:05):
So that's pretty cool.
Yeah, that's something I hadn'tseen before, so that was fun.
So just one of the examples ofthe many things that gets
presented here at the AmericanHeart Association meeting.
Kevin Geddings (06:13):
Well, we appreciate you, Dr.
Koren, calling in from NewOrleans to update us on what is
going on at the American HeartAssociation meeting, and very
excited to that some you knowresults of trials that you were
involved with right here in St.
Augustine uh were talked aboutat that meeting.
Once again, you can learn moreby going to EncoreDocs.com.
And a lot of this informationwe talk about, the information
that Dr.
Koren just referenced, that'sthe sort of you know reliable,
(06:36):
believable, trustworthyinformation you're going to find
on a very special websitecalled medevidence.com, right,
Dr.
Koren?
Dr. Michael Koren (06:43):
Absolutely.
And interestingly, a lot ofpeople at the American Heart
Association meeting were veryinterested in Med Evidence! So I
literally spent half of my timehere explaining it, showing it
to people, and um hopefullygetting more and more eyeballs
to look at this concept ofpresenting medical information
through podcasts and slidepresentations and other things
(07:04):
where doctors are talking toeach other in a very credible
way.
So they're just trying to sellyou something.
We're trying to analyze it foryou, help you understand what we
know, what we don't know, andhow we learn about the stuff
that we don't know.
So people seem to love theformat, and I was pretty
excited.
I got pumped up.
I'm having many conversationsabout MedEvidence here at the
American Heart Associationmeeting.
Yeah.
So check it out,medevidence.com.
Kevin Geddings (07:25):
Well, the reach of Med Evidence just continues
to grow exponentially, and we'rewe're proud to be a part of
that as well.
Go to medevidence.com, thetruth behind the data.
It's a great resource forinformation.
Don't just rely on Google orSnapchat or Instagram.
You know, go to a source youcan trust and share that too
with other people who areresearching various health
topics.
Have them check outmedevidence.com,
medevidence.com.
(07:46):
Dr.
Michael Koren, uh, hope youhave a good time in New Orleans.
Safe travels back home, okay?
Dr. Michael Koren (07:51):
All right.
Well, uh, thank you, Kevin.
Have a great week, and we'lltalk to you next week.
Announcer (07:54):
Thanks for joining the MedEvidence Podcast.
To learn more, head over toMedevidence.com or subscribe to
our podcast on your favoritepodcast platform.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Ruthie's Table 4
For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com