Cholesterol Report from the American College of Cardiology

Transcript generated by AI.

Kevin Geddings: 0:10

Huge hit for Fleetwood Mac back in the day, right Nine minutes after 8 o'clock. Joining me live on the studio line right now, dr Michael Korn, and he normally joins us on Monday, but I had to ask him to change and hook up with us on this Thursday morning and he just returned from Chicago where he was able to make a presentation, was asked to make a presentation in front of the American College of Cardiology and some pretty interesting stuff relating to cholesterol medications. Right, doctor?

Dr. Michael Koren: 0:38

It was a program that I gave that was related to the first release of data on a drug that is called a PCSK9 inhibitor, and these drugs are on the market, but they're all injectables, and this was a whole discussion around new data looking at a pill that basically reproduces what we're able to do with an injectable today. So that led to really, really interesting discussions about whether or not people would rather take a pill once a day, especially if the pill was connected to a statin drug, whereby one pill would lower your cholesterol by 80%, versus taking injections periodically. And there are technologies out there that allow you to take injections very infrequently, even every six months, but it still requires you to take a pill every day, which is the statin drug that's also considered part of the regimen. So very, very interesting discussions around this concept of, ultimately, what do consumers want a pill a day, or do they want injectables that you take less frequently but still have to take a pill?

Kevin Geddings: 1:41

So are these folks that are driving around listening to us? Does this impact the people that just don't benefit from taking, like I do, you know, a normal statin or a statin of some dosage every evening before you go to bed?

Dr. Michael Koren: 1:54

Right. So you're like most people I would say 80% of people that have a cholesterol problem are handled with a statin. Statins are great drugs. They're safe, they're effective. I like to tell people that the number one side effect of statins is that you live longer. So from that standpoint, most people do okay. But it's about 20% of the population that either needs more cholesterol lowering than that which is provided by the statin, or they're intolerant of statins, or they have a specific type of condition that doesn't respond to statins as well. So, for example, if you have, like, a protein delay problem, you actually don't get any benefit from the statins for that particular problem. So it's a little bit more complicated. But, to your point, 80% of people just fine with their statins and it's that 20% that we're really working for.

Kevin Geddings: 2:46

If there are folks out there listening to us right now and they've had perhaps little to no success with their current statins, or they know they have a cholesterol issue that hasn't been addressed with diet or what have you, I would imagine there are ways they can participate in clinical trials with Encore Docs, right?

Dr. Michael Koren: 3:01

Absolutely. So we're really focused on those areas in which are a little bit more complicated. So, for example, if you know you have an LPA problem that will not respond to statins and we're right now doing studies that enroll people that have LPA problems so we've talked about that, but that's that really, really, really, really bad cholesterol that causes more atherosclerotic complications, such as heart attacks and strokes, compared to just regular cholesterol. And we're also looking at people that have genetic predisposition. So if you have a condition called familial hypercholesterolemia, you're going to need something more than just being on a statin. And then we're also looking at people that have inflammatory risk. I think you and I have talked about this, but we also will check people for something called HSCRP, so people that may have their cholesterol controls still may have inflammation in their bloodstream, and that inflammation is also something we can target these days. So a lot of really exciting things to help people prevent heart attacks and strokes.

Kevin Geddings: 3:59

Yeah, so many of you out there listening, of course have some of these issues, whether it's cholesterol or cardiac health issues. We encourage you to learn about all the amazing studies that are ongoing that you can potentially participate in. Go to the website EncoreDocscom, and know that you can do that from the comfort and convenience of life right here in St John's County. Encore Docs with offices right next door to UF Flagler Hospital in the Whetstone Building. Go to EncoreDocs, e-n-c-o-r-e docscom to learn more. And also you can call Let me give you this phone number that you can punch into your cell phone 904-730-0166. So the American College of Cardiology meeting in Chicago. That's a big deal, right, doc?

Dr. Michael Koren: 4:42

It is.

Dr. Michael Koren: 4:43

That is one of our big professional conferences and it was an honor actually to be asked to do what's called a late breaking clinical trial session.

Dr. Michael Koren: 4:52

And I get into what they call the main tent, a big amphitheater that can fit up to 3,000 people, and just present the latest and greatest in scientific results and then typically they'll have an expert ask me a series of questions about my results, which we did. So it's a neat process. It's the way we share science and, keep in mind, this is very international. There are people all over the world that are watching this conference and attending the conference, and as soon as I finished my presentation I had a number of media discussions, different media outlets that are projected around the world, including China. I mentioned to you right before we got on the call that I had an interesting conversation with Chinese TV, and a little funny part about it is that they hooked me up with this really high-tech microphone and then they gave me a fake microphone with the station's logo on it to speak into. That's hilarious. It was pretty interesting, but the more important point is that these results are projected to cardiologists and other physicians around the world.

Kevin Geddings: 5:58

Yeah, so I'm always wondering so you go to a place like Chicago, which I think is one of my favorite cities in the world for eating great food, right yeah?

Dr. Michael Koren: 6:06

Oh, it was fabulous yeah.

Kevin Geddings: 6:07

So you have to be heart. You know cardiac. Friendly food though, right, no Portellos hot dogs, nothing like that.

Dr. Michael Koren: 6:13

Well, you can, you can branch out a little bit, but you have to be careful. So I did go to Michael Jordan's Steakhouse in Chicago.

Kevin Geddings: 6:19

Was that any good?

Dr. Michael Koren: 6:21

It was actually pretty good.

Kevin Geddings: 6:22

Okay.

Dr. Michael Koren: 6:23

You know I wouldn't put it in the top tier, but it's pretty good. And, but I but it's pretty good. Yeah and uh, but I I did order a filet mignon, but I ordered it without butter. So I was, with a heart, friendly other people and when it came out, everybody's steak was dripping with butter except mine. I felt, I felt proud of myself. Yeah, absolutely.

Kevin Geddings: 6:43

Well, the one thing I've learned from dr corn over the years and I share with everybody, is everything in moderation right. Dr corn, you know everything about nothing wrong with it, you know, that's, I'd say dr corn world is everything in moderation, right, dr Coren? Exactly, you know. Everything in moderation, nothing wrong with it. I'd say Dr Coren, world-class cardiologist, will tell you go ahead and enjoy that steak, just don't enjoy it every day of the week.

Dr. Michael Koren: 6:59

There you go. Yeah, overindulgence is what kills people.

Kevin Geddings: 7:02

Right. Well, data like what you shared with the world in Chicago on Monday and data that other scientists and research experts from around the world shared on Monday, along with all sorts of other information that's been well filtered, if you will, is available on the MedEvidence website, right MedEvidencecom. Give us a quick sense of what that's all about, doctor.

Dr. Michael Koren: 7:21

It is, and it's actually getting a lot of momentum. More and more people are watching these podcasts and other things where we have groups of doctors or two doctors talk to each other and really break down different issues. So we've had some really fascinating recent discussions, for example, talking about whether or not alcohol is a net positive or negative from a health perspective. We've had discussions around the lipoprotein little, a problem, which is this problem that we have not been able to deal with at all until very, very recently and multiple other discussions. We had a great discussion on chronic cough. There are people out there that have a cough that they just can't get rid of. We had a discussion about what that could mean and hopefully help people. We have clinical trials, for example, enrolling in that as we speak. So MedEvidence talks about a lot of things that people are interested in, but instead of trying to sell you something, we have a discussion around it and then people can glean important insights based on their individual circumstances.

Kevin Geddings: 8:24

Well, it's a great resource and, of course, totally free of charge, which is also phenomenal and much more reliable than just going to Dr Google. Check out the information at medevidencecom and, if you can help, share that website with other people that are exploring various health topics. Medevidencecom that's medevidencecom the truth behind the data. Dr Koren, thank you very much for your time this morning. We're glad that you're back safely from Chicago and we'll talk with you again on Monday, okay.

Dr. Michael Koren: 8:52

Sounds great. Have a great week. Bye-bye.