Understanding Cardiac Risk Assessment for Lifelong Heart Health

Heart disease doesn’t start when you’re older, it starts early, often without symptoms.

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Laurence Sperling, one of the world’s leading experts in preventive cardiology, to explore how to catch heart disease early and stop it in its tracks. We cover cholesterol, blood pressure, calcium scores, lifestyle, and more. This is one of the most practical, empowering episodes on heart health I’ve ever recorded.

What we cover:

• Early detection and the true origins of atherosclerosis
• How low your cholesterol and blood pressure should really be
• Understanding ApoB, Lp(a), and genetic risk
• When it’s worth getting a CT scan
• Lifestyle and medical interventions that actually work

Whether you’re 25 or 65, this conversation is packed with insights that can help you live longer and better by understanding and protecting your cardiovascular system.

• 0:00:00 – Intro
• 0:01:24 - Why Prevention Should Start Before Birth
• 0:10:11 – Is It Genetics or Lifestyle? Understanding Risk
• 0:16:17 – Public Health Strategy That Prevents Millions of Heart Attacks
• 0:21:55 - How Geography and Income Impact Heart Disease Risk
• 0:29:25 – Familial Hypercholesterolemia and Lifetime Cholesterol Exposure
• 0:34:00 – What Diet and Lifestyle Patterns Lower Risk Long-Term
• 0:45:49 – LDL, HDL, and the New Science of Non-HDL Cholesterol
• 0:53:39 - Does High Blood Pressure Still Harm Arteries if ApoB Is Low?
• 1:05:24 – Lipoprotein(a): The Triple Threat You Should Know About
• 1:08:22 – When Should You Start Cardiac Risk Assessments?
• 1:17:23 - Can a Calcium Score of Zero Be Misleading in Younger Adults?
• 1:23:58 – CT Calcium vs. CT Angiogram: Which Scan Is Right?
• 1:33:25 - Is Subclinical Atherosclerosis the Same as Heart Disease?
• 1:40:03 - What Are Optimal LDL and Blood Pressure Levels to Prevent Heart Disease?
• 1:48:07 – How GLP-1 Drugs Help With Weight and Heart Disease Prevention
• 1:57:10 – Public Health Policies That Could Save Millions
• 2:01:19 – Cardiologist-Approved Daily Habits for a Healthy Heart
• 2:05:20 – Outro

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Simon Hill, MSc, BSc (Hons)

• Creator of theproof.com
• Host of The Proof with Simon Hill
• Author of The Proof is in the Plants

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