Ep. 640 Cardiovascular Risk Markers in Midlife Women |Menopause, Perimenopause, Heart Health

Welcome to the latest Midlife Minute.

Today, I’m answering listeners’ questions about cardiovascular risk, focusing on Lp(a), LDL, statins, and the changes women experience after menopause.

Stay tuned for more!

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN:

Why women should have their Lp(a) checked both before and after menopause

How Lp(a) works as a risk enhancer, and how cardiovascular risk becomes more significant when elevated Lp(a) occurs alongside high LDL

Why family history is particularly helpful for women with a 10-year calculated cardiovascular risk that looks reassuringly low

I review the current guidelines for primary prevention

Why, even though research has shown reductions in major cardiac events with GLP-1s, GLP-1s do not replace statins for lowering LDL 

What a CAC score can reveal about coronary artery calcification, and what it cannot detect

How AI-assisted CT angiography (such as Clearly) can map, quantify, and characterize plaque throughout the coronary branches

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