Dr. Aseem Malhotra

Hi, Megan. Lovely to be here.

Hi, Megan. Lovely to be here.

Hi, Megan. Lovely to be here.

One of the medications that Tony was on that he believed caused him quite significant side effects, such as muscle fatigue, erectile dysfunction, brain fog, really limited his quality of life for many, many months, was a statin drug.

One of the medications that Tony was on that he believed caused him quite significant side effects, such as muscle fatigue, erectile dysfunction, brain fog, really limited his quality of life for many, many months, was a statin drug.

One of the medications that Tony was on that he believed caused him quite significant side effects, such as muscle fatigue, erectile dysfunction, brain fog, really limited his quality of life for many, many months, was a statin drug.

Yeah, Megan, so really interesting you started with that because, you know, my journey as a practicing cardiologist, as a qualified doctor for well over 20 years, actually started towards the end of sort of 2009, 2010, when I really started to investigate why heart disease hadn't really come down in the way it was predicted to come down.

Yeah, Megan, so really interesting you started with that because, you know, my journey as a practicing cardiologist, as a qualified doctor for well over 20 years, actually started towards the end of sort of 2009, 2010, when I really started to investigate why heart disease hadn't really come down in the way it was predicted to come down.

Yeah, Megan, so really interesting you started with that because, you know, my journey as a practicing cardiologist, as a qualified doctor for well over 20 years, actually started towards the end of sort of 2009, 2010, when I really started to investigate why heart disease hadn't really come down in the way it was predicted to come down.

You know, by the end of the 20th century, it was predicted that heart disease would essentially be eradicated because of statins that come on the scene. And a lot of what happened around changes in guidelines on diet was based upon this, what we now know is a very flawed hypothesis about lowering cholesterol. So that's where I begun my journey because I was seeing my patients come in

You know, by the end of the 20th century, it was predicted that heart disease would essentially be eradicated because of statins that come on the scene. And a lot of what happened around changes in guidelines on diet was based upon this, what we now know is a very flawed hypothesis about lowering cholesterol. So that's where I begun my journey because I was seeing my patients come in

You know, by the end of the 20th century, it was predicted that heart disease would essentially be eradicated because of statins that come on the scene. And a lot of what happened around changes in guidelines on diet was based upon this, what we now know is a very flawed hypothesis about lowering cholesterol. So that's where I begun my journey because I was seeing my patients come in

You know, more stress on the system, the National Health Service, more people are suffering from chronic disease. But patients also reporting a lot of side effects from statins, which where there was a discrepancy between what I was observing in terms of the frequency of these side effects and diagnosing it and what was in the published literature.

You know, more stress on the system, the National Health Service, more people are suffering from chronic disease. But patients also reporting a lot of side effects from statins, which where there was a discrepancy between what I was observing in terms of the frequency of these side effects and diagnosing it and what was in the published literature.

You know, more stress on the system, the National Health Service, more people are suffering from chronic disease. But patients also reporting a lot of side effects from statins, which where there was a discrepancy between what I was observing in terms of the frequency of these side effects and diagnosing it and what was in the published literature.

So when I went on that journey, Megan, basically I came to the conclusion that this fear around cholesterol is grossly exaggerated to the extent where one could argue, and there's published evidence for this, that high cholesterol, so-called LDL, bad cholesterol, isn't really a significant risk factor for heart disease.

So when I went on that journey, Megan, basically I came to the conclusion that this fear around cholesterol is grossly exaggerated to the extent where one could argue, and there's published evidence for this, that high cholesterol, so-called LDL, bad cholesterol, isn't really a significant risk factor for heart disease.

So when I went on that journey, Megan, basically I came to the conclusion that this fear around cholesterol is grossly exaggerated to the extent where one could argue, and there's published evidence for this, that high cholesterol, so-called LDL, bad cholesterol, isn't really a significant risk factor for heart disease.

But of course, that's where statins came in, because the thinking was if we lower LDL cholesterol, so-called bad cholesterol with these statin drugs, which are, by the way, prescribed, estimated to be prescribed, Megan, to one billion people globally, certainly at least 200 million. And we think at least 30 million Americans are taking statins. it doesn't really have that much of an effect.

But of course, that's where statins came in, because the thinking was if we lower LDL cholesterol, so-called bad cholesterol with these statin drugs, which are, by the way, prescribed, estimated to be prescribed, Megan, to one billion people globally, certainly at least 200 million. And we think at least 30 million Americans are taking statins. it doesn't really have that much of an effect.