Powerful new drugs that reduce LDL cholesterol to unprecedented levels with minimal side effects should eliminate heart disease within the next few decades. The primary cause of heart disease is that excessive LDL cholesterol in the blood builds up as plaque inside blood vessels. In my last two posts, I wrote about the first- and … Continue reading Preventing Heart Disease with PCSK9 Inhibitors

Heart disease, caused by plaque on artery walls, is the leading cause of death for both men and women. Plaque buildup is also a major cause of stroke, which the CDC lists separately from heart disease as the fourth leading cause of death for women and fifth for men. In turn, plaque is caused by … Continue reading Preventing Heart Disease with Statins

Rates of colon and rectal cancer (CRC) incidence and death have been decreasing for decades. However, there’s an important exception to this trend. CRC incidence and death has been increasing for people below 50, all the way down to 20 years old. Risk still increases with age, but the difference in risk between 50-year-olds and … Continue reading Millennials Should Get Screened for Colon Cancer

Like me, you might be a little confused about whether fish oil supplements reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Can fish oil really extend our lives, and is it worth the expense? Decades of nutritional studies that survey what people eat and measure their health outcomes have found that eating fatty fish is … Continue reading Will Fish Oil Supplements Extend Your Life?

With atrocious air quality in California right now, I’m doing everything I can to keep my lungs clear of fine particulate matter, aka PM2.5. Chronic exposure to even moderate levels of PM2.5 or acute exposure to high levels significantly increases all-cause mortality. I’ve previously written about how running HEPA filters in your house is a … Continue reading Do you need a HEPA filter in your car?

Wild claims about vitamin supplements fly all over the internet. My Facebook feed is little more than a series of ads for vitamins, potions, and blood tests that promise to turn me into an immortal David Hasselhoff. So what does the best science tell us about vitamin supplements for people who haven’t been diagnosed with … Continue reading Will Multivitamins Extend Your Life? The Evidence

Losing your hair as you age is a concern for many men, and some women. Baldness isn’t a health problem and it won’t shorten your life, so it’s perhaps a little off-topic for this blog. But if you can find a treatment that’s cheap, easy, harmless, and effective, isn’t it worth giving it a shot? … Continue reading How Not to Go Bald