Dear Dr. Mirkin,

Which blood test is a better predictor of heart attacks: CRP or cholesterol?

Last week, I explained how preventing heart disease has very little to do with simply lowering cholesterol with statin drugs. Our current thinking about how to treat and prevent heart disease is at best misguided, and at worst harmful. We believe we are treating the causes of heart disease by lowering cholesterol, lowering blood pressure, lowering blood sugar with medication. But the real question is what causes high cholesterol, high blood pressure and high blood sugar in the first place.[i] It is certainly not a medication deficiency!

It’s true! You really can eat your way to optimum brain power and continue to feed your brain at any age.

The right foods will help you use your brain to the max, and the more you use it, the more you’ll challenge your brain to grow new cells, create new connections, and improve your problem-solving and memory functions.

We have all been led to believe that cholesterol is bad and that lowering it is good. Because of extensive pharmaceutical marketing to both doctors and patients we think that using statin drugs is proven to work to lower the risk of heart attacks and death.

But on what scientific evidence is this based, what does that evidence really show?

Do you want to keep your mind in top shape and lower your risk for dementia?

The answer is simple...

For many years, nuts have gotten a bad rap for being high in fat. But in reality, nuts are a vital part of our diet, as they are high in monounsaturated fats that actually keep us heart-healthy and disease-free.

Healthy nuts are also great sources of protein, minerals and other life-enhancing nutrients. Scientific studies now show that different types of nuts and seeds can actually prevent heart disease, weight gain and the accumulation of LDL cholesterol.

While many parents worry that the violence on TV will give their kids a thirst for blood, few worry about the effect of TV on their kids’ blood pressure. After all, high blood pressure is an adult disease — or at least has been. But increasingly, those still in elementary school have proven to be at risk, and now a new study shows that watching too much television may be a risk factor.

Researchers have uncovered a link between a common diabetes drug and increased risk of heart failure. Their conclusion? It's hard to find a reason to keep patients on it.

Are you taking rosiglitazone for type 2 diabetes? After reading the results of a new study in the British Medical Journal on this common drug and heart failure, you're going to want to talk to your doctor about making a change.

Today, most doctors insist that cholesterol is the cause of heart disease as they dole out dangerous cholesterol-lowering drugs.

But few ever realize that vitamin C deficiency plays a major role in heart attack and stroke.

Sugar has been blamed for nearly every known disease and even for the fall of several empires. While those accusations may sound like exaggerations, they probably are closer to the truth than you realize.