In this episode, we will take a deep dive into the biomarkers, lab values, and other tools that we can use to measure, quantify, and predict the risk of death, disease, and many preventable medical illness. This includes cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, dementia, infertility, and more.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics. Leading Causes of Death.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm

Cancer is a Preventable Disease that Requires Major Lifestyle Changes

Anand P, Kunnumakkara AB, Sundaram C, et al. Cancer is a preventable disease that requires major lifestyle changes [published correction appears in Pharm Res. 2008 Sep;25(9):2200. Kunnumakara, Ajaikumar B. Pharm Res. 2008;25(9):2097-2116. doi:10.1007/s11095-008-9661-9

World Health Organization: Between 30% and 50% of cancer deaths could be prevented by modifying or avoiding key risk factors

https://www.who.int/health-topics/cancer

The American Cancer Society states that 60% of uterine cancers are attributed to excess body weight

https://www.cancer.org/research/acs-research-news/more-than-4-in-10-cancers-and-cancer-deaths-linked-to-modifiable-risk-factors.html

Wu S, Zhu W, Thompson P, Hannun YA. Evaluating intrinsic and non-intrinsic cancer risk factors. Nat Commun. 2018;9(1):3490. Published 2018 Aug 28. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-05467-z

International Agency for Research on Cancer acknowledged that there was sufficient evidence to suggest that avoiding benign overweight obese was protective against at least 13 different cancers

Lauby-Secretan B, Scoccianti C, Loomis D, et al. Body Fatness and Cancer--Viewpoint of the IARC Working Group. N Engl J Med. 2016;375(8):794-798. doi:10.1056/NEJMsr1606602

LPIR score is a useful predictor of future type 2 diabetes even in patients with a normal Hemoglobin A1c

Harada PHN, Demler OV, Dugani SB, et al. Lipoprotein insulin resistance score and risk of incident diabetes during extended follow-up of 20 years: The Women's Health Study. J Clin Lipidol. 2017;11(5):1257-1267.e2. doi:10.1016/j.jacl.2017.06.008

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 70% of the sodium Americans consume comes from packaged, processed foods

https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/factsheets/nutrition.htm

Approximately 70-90% of total body cholesterol is found within the cell

Maxfield FR, Wüstner D. Intracellular cholesterol transport. J Clin Invest. 2002;110(7):891-898. doi:10.1172/JCI16500

Lipoprotein(a) Is Markedly More Atherogenic Than LDL: An Apolipoprotein B-Based Genetic Analysis

Björnson E, Adiels M, Taskinen MR, et al. Lipoprotein(a) Is Markedly More Atherogenic Than LDL: An Apolipoprotein B-Based Genetic Analysis. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2024;83(3):385-395. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2023.10.039

Association of Triglyceride-Lowering LPL Variants and LDL-C–Lowering LDLR Variants With Risk of Coronary Heart Disease

Ference BA, Kastelein JJP, Ray KK, et al. Association of Triglyceride-Lowering LPL Variants and LDL-C–Lowering LDLR Variants With Risk of Coronary Heart Disease. JAMA. 2019;321(4):364–373. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.20045

Elevated remnant cholesterol causes both low-grade inflammation and ischemic heart disease

Varbo A, Benn M, Tybjærg-Hansen A, Nordestgaard BG. Elevated remnant cholesterol causes both low-grade inflammation and ischemic heart disease, whereas elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol causes ischemic heart disease without inflammation. Circulation. 2013;128(12):1298-1309. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.113.003008