Cardiologists, other physicians, and patients writing on KevinMD about heart disease: statins and the cholesterol guidelines argued since 2013, blood pressure thresholds, stroke and the clock, cardiac arrest and what CPR can and cannot do, stents and atrial fibrillation, heart failure drugs that go unprescribed, prevention from salt to calcium scores, and a specialty that became procedural because procedures were paid. One maintained record draws on this archive: Heart disease: what physicians say, in their own words.

Heparin for acute coronary syndrome: a closer look

Medications
June 2, 2026

Last week, KevinMD published my blog titled “The anticoagulant standard of care nobody tested.” This week I’ll continue with a discussion of patients who may have been harmed by anticoagulants.

In 2001, two co-authors and I initiated a systematic review of “Anticoagulants versus non-steroidal anti-inflammatories or placebo for treatment of venous thromboembolism.” The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews delayed publishing it until 2006. Because of the delays, Medscape General …

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Heparin for acute coronary syndrome: a closer look

The hidden causes of heart attacks in young adults

Conditions and Diseases
June 1, 2026

A 32-year-old male is rushed to the ER. An hour ago, he was playing football with his friends, as he does every week. No smoking. Barely drinks. No family history anyone knew about. He is 32 years old, and his heart is attacking him. He is not an anomaly anymore. He is a pattern. According to an extensive study spanning 16 years, the rate of having a heart attack …

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The hidden causes of heart attacks in young adults

Cardiovascular disease in Black Americans is structural

Conditions and Diseases
May 30, 2026

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, yet its burden is not evenly distributed. Black Americans experience higher rates of hypertension, heart failure, and premature cardiovascular mortality. These patterns are often called “health disparities,” but that language risks understating a central reality. Cardiovascular risk does not arise in isolation. It accumulates along lines of social and structural inequality.

The relationship between social conditions and cardiovascular health …

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Cardiovascular disease in Black Americans is structural

Wearable technology saves lives through early detection

Conditions and Diseases
May 22, 2026

I am a 94-year-old physician who would like to share a recent experience in which my Apple Watch played a critical role in the detection of a life-threatening event.

Over the course of my career, I focused on early detection and prevention in medicine, particularly in colorectal cancer. This made my recent personal experience with early detection of a cardiac event and prevention of its serious consequences through wearable technology especially …

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Wearable technology saves lives through early detection

Prior authorization delays vital transplant medication

Conditions and Diseases
May 22, 2026

I am a heart transplant recipient. I understand the responsibility that comes with the organ I was given. I take my medications exactly as prescribed. I go to my appointments. I monitor for anything that could signal a problem. I do everything I am supposed to do. And I still almost ran out of my transplant medication.

What I was not prepared for was having to fight to get the medication …

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Prior authorization delays vital transplant medication

Cognitive overload in cardiac arrest is a human problem

Conditions and Diseases
May 18, 2026

Thirty years ago, I ran a cardiac arrest in the operating room. The patient survived. The room eventually quieted down. The nurses began cleaning up. People moved on to the next case.

But I remember standing there afterward feeling exhausted and unsettled. It had been several months since my ACLS recertification, and during the code I caught myself mentally reaching for details of the algorithm that had once felt automatic. I …

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Cognitive overload in cardiac arrest is a human problem

Opportunistic screening finds coronary artery disease

Conditions and Diseases
May 16, 2026

In New Orleans, shoppers often request “lagniappe,” pronounced lan-yap, to express their desire for something extra, the baker’s dozen, a 13th donut. Added benefit was a major topic of interest for the 500 participants in the combined International Early Lung Cancer Action Program (IELCAP), International Early Lung Cancer and Respiratory Tract (IELCART), and AGILE 3 conferences held March 19 to 21, 2026, in Gdansk, Poland. Although this topic ranged freely …

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Opportunistic screening finds coronary artery disease

You can’t stent a capillary: Why aging starts in your smallest blood vessels [PODCAST]

Podcast
May 12, 2026
YouTube video

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What if the real driver of aging isn’t your mitochondria or your telomeres but the tiny capillaries you never think about? Double board-certified emergency and internal medicine physician Kenneth Ro returns to the …

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You can’t stent a capillary: Why aging starts in your smallest blood vessels [PODCAST]

Bolus or drip? What the DOSE trial actually showed about heart failure [PODCAST]

Podcast
May 11, 2026
YouTube video

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What if one of the most common escalation strategies for acute heart failure doesn’t actually improve outcomes? Internal medicine physicians Benjamin P. Geisler, Jeffrey L. Greenwald, and Kathy May Tran, editors of 50 …

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Bolus or drip? What the DOSE trial actually showed about heart failure [PODCAST]

Your doctor saved your life but won’t return your call [PODCAST]

Podcast
May 7, 2026
YouTube video

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What happens when a physician who spent decades treating patients suddenly finds himself on the other side of the exam table, unable to get a simple answer about his own aneurysm? Jeffrey Junig, …

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Your doctor saved your life but won’t return your call [PODCAST]

Rethinking blood thinners for atrial fibrillation patients

Conditions and Diseases
May 3, 2026

At the American College of Cardiology meeting, a new trial was shared that might change how we view one of the world’s most common heart conditions. At its core, the study asked a simple but disruptive question: Do patients with atrial fibrillation really need to take blood thinners for the rest of their lives to prevent stroke? For decades, the answer has been yes. This trial suggests the answer …

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Rethinking blood thinners for atrial fibrillation patients

2026 cholesterol guidelines: LDL goals, Lp(a), and coronary calcium scoring [PODCAST]

Podcast
April 30, 2026
YouTube video

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This episode is sponsored by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.

In this sponsored episode from Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a leading preventive cardiologist walks through the 2026 cholesterol …

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2026 cholesterol guidelines: LDL goals, Lp(a), and coronary calcium scoring [PODCAST]

When a stomach bug is actually an atypical heart attack

Conditions and Diseases
April 29, 2026

A patient arrives in the emergency department vomiting. Not once or twice, but repeatedly, leaning over the bedside basin, pale and sweating, clearly miserable. Between episodes, he tries to explain what happened. Earlier in the day he felt completely fine. Then the nausea started suddenly, followed by vomiting, cramping, and a cold sweat that made his shirt cling to his back. By the time he arrived in the emergency room, …

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When a stomach bug is actually an atypical heart attack

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Why heart failure care requires spaced repetition for doctors

Conditions and Diseases
April 22, 2026

It is 4:50 p.m. on a Thursday. Your last patient is a 67-year-old with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. He has been hospitalized twice this year. His medications look familiar. A beta-blocker. An ACE inhibitor. A loop diuretic. But something is missing. You scroll through the chart. No mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist. No SGLT2 inhibitor. No ARNI. You pause. You know the guidelines. You have heard the talks. You have …

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Why heart failure care requires spaced repetition for doctors

Finding humanity in medicine after a sudden illness

Conditions and Diseases
April 15, 2026

The morning my mother passed away began like any other. She was getting ready for work. She finished her morning chai and just stepped out of the shower with the sunlight filling the bedroom. There was nothing unusual about that morning that was particularly alarming. And then, in a moment so small I almost missed it, she paused and pressed a hand to her back. “I don’t feel right,” she …

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Finding humanity in medicine after a sudden illness

Why cardiovascular medicine should focus on patients, not environmental advocacy

Conditions and Diseases
April 8, 2026

The treatment of cardiovascular diseases has advanced at an extraordinary pace over the past half-century resulting in an age-adjusted 60 percent reduction in heart disease death rates. This dramatic decline is directly attributable to primary and secondary preventive therapies such as statins and small interfering messenger RNAs along with disruptive technologic advances in procedural techniques. New pharmacologic options for thromboprophylaxis and novel therapies for heart failure …

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Why cardiovascular medicine should focus on patients, not environmental advocacy

GLP-1 agonists and weight loss: Treating the disease, not the number

Conditions and Diseases
April 2, 2026

Modern medicine loves numbers. LDL. A1c. BMI. Tumor diameter. Pounds lost. They are easy to measure, easy to track, and easy to celebrate. But none of them are the disease itself.

As GLP-1 prescribing accelerates and insurers increasingly define success by weight reduction, we are repeating a familiar mistake: Elevating a surrogate marker to the status of a biological endpoint.

BMI was never designed to diagnose disease in individuals. Adolphe Quetelet created …

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GLP-1 agonists and weight loss: Treating the disease, not the number

Statin safety and efficacy: What recent studies reveal

Medications
March 28, 2026

Are you concerned about statins? In the past two weeks, cold hard statistics have cut through the fog of misinformation surrounding these best-selling drugs, focusing instead on the safety and efficacy of lowering your blood cholesterol level. No emotions or bias, just numbers. Welcome information for anyone who has enjoyed numerous trips around the sun and is looking forward to many more.

Middle age, that point in life when your invincibility …

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Statin safety and efficacy: What recent studies reveal

How competency-based education is driving medical education reform

Physician
March 23, 2026

As a pediatric cardiologist, I have spent my career watching children grow. During clinic visits, we track their height, weight, and milestones. We also sit with families and ask what makes their children smile. We might send a toddler to physical therapy for gross motor delay while we also encourage her love of art or music. Years of listening to parents share what their child enjoys has taught me that …

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How competency-based education is driving medical education reform

Managing acute heart failure: evidence from the DOSE trial

Conditions and Diseases
March 22, 2026

An excerpt from 50 Studies Every Hospitalist Should Know.

Debbie Lin Teodorescu, MD, MEng, a cardiologist, and Hugo Torres, MD, MPH, an endocrinologist, authored this article.

The DOSE trial provided good insight into the dosage and frequency for administering loop diuretics in patients presenting with acute decompensated heart failure. Physicians can prescribe intravenous loop diuretics with confidence that their decision is evidence-based, efficacious, and safe.

Research questions

Among patients with hemodynamically …

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Managing acute heart failure: evidence from the DOSE trial

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