After a family member broke a hip recently, I decided I’d better look into treatments for osteoporosis. There is strong observational evidence that reduced bone density increases the risk of broken bones. In turn, many large drug trials give experimental evidence that increasing bone mineral density reduces the risk of fractures. Drugs from the 90s … Continue reading Diagnosis and Treatment of Osteoporosis
Today, Verve Therapeutics announced the first results from human trials of a gene editing treatment for high cholesterol. They show safety and effectiveness on par with the best treatments already available, but with a one-time treatment expected to last a lifetime. I’ve been excited to see these results ever since I first wrote about PCSK9 … Continue reading The First Human Trial of Gene Editing for High Cholesterol
After this week’s release of phase 3 trial results for donanemab, a monoclonal antibody that treats Alzheimer’s disease by reducing amyloid beta plaques, I wanted to see how it compared to the last drug with positive results, lecanemab. I made a table comparing the trials side-by-side. The trials matched identically in a few ways. They … Continue reading Alzheimer’s Drug Comparison – Lecanemab vs Donanemab
Most cases of cardiovascular disease (CVD) - the category that combines heart disease and stroke - are caused by high LDL cholesterol. When LDL rises above about 90 mg/dl, plaque starts to build up on the vessel walls. If changes to diet and exercise don’t reduce LDL enough, statins, ezetimibe, and PCSK9 inhibitors cause huge … Continue reading Recently Discovered Heart Disease Risk Factor: Lipoprotein(a)
The next decade should bring a revolution in early detection of cancer. Today, only four cancers have screenings recommended for the general population: breast, colon, cervix, and lung cancer in smokers. Those cancers only account for 29% of all cases of cancer and 24% of all cancer deaths. Due to low compliance with recommended screenings … Continue reading The Coming Revolution in Cancer Screening
When am I going to die? The Social Security Administration’s actuarial tables tell me a 32-year-old male has a remaining life expectancy of 46.00 years. To refine that estimate, I can look at papers like this one that compare life expectancy depending on modifiable risk factors. A 50-year-old male who does five healthy things (1. … Continue reading Life Expectancy Calculator by Cause of Death
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
LDL cholesterol causes most heart disease and some strokes. The first line treatment for high LDL cholesterol after diet and exercise is statins, which I reviewed in my last post. Statins have a far lower burden of side effects than many believe and any reduction in LDL cholesterol - no matter how low or high … Continue reading Preventing Heart Disease with Ezetimibe
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
A large body of research in psychology finds that giving money to causes we care about makes us happier. Even if that research doesn’t hold up, I’d argue we still have an obligation to spend some portion of our time and money trying to make the world a better place. And I believe we need … Continue reading $100,000 Donation to GiveWell
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