17th January 2020 I thought I should write a blog on coronary artery calcification (CAC), as it has become the latest hot topic. CAC scans, and CAC scoring are now increasingly popular, and the results are worrying lots of people who wonder what they mean, and exactly how worried they should be. I get many […]
10th December 2023 A very important study – please watch Very high low density lipoprotein levels with no impact on plaque progression I interrupt my series on what is wrong with the health service to bring you breaking news. I was sent the e-mail below, directing me to a short YouTube presentation by Dr Shawn […]
4th November 2021 And so, after only thirty short years of research, my book on heart disease is finally finished, and is published today. Up to now my books, and blogs, have mainly consisted of telling people what does not cause heart disease. Or to be slightly more accurate, cardiovascular disease. Hint, it is not […]
2 January 2019 ‘It is difficult to make predictions, particularly about the future.’ Old Danish proverb The hallmark of a great scientific hypothesis is prediction. Einstein’s theory of special relativity predicted that gravitational fields could be demonstrated to bend light – and he was proven right during observations made during a total eclipse of the […]
15th June 2018 Many years ago, whilst I was at University, a doctor called Elspeth Smith was giving a small group tutorial on cardiovascular disease. I did not know it at the time, but she was doing detailed research into the process of atherosclerosis itself. During the tutorial she made this statement ‘cholesterol cannot get […]
12th May 2018 [A classic black swan] If your hypothesis is that all swans are white, the discovery of one black swan refutes your hypothesis. That is how science works. Or at least that is how science should work. In the real world, scientists are highly adept at explaining away contradictions to their favoured hypotheses. […]
29th January 2018 Magnesium Someone very wise once said. ‘When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, Sir?’ Actually, it was John Maynard Keynes (yes, I looked it up). In my last blog I wrote about Magnesium, thus: ‘As for magnesium. Magnesium deficiency is increasingly recognised as a major health issue […]
Scientific hypotheses are easy. You can make up thirty a day if you want. In the arena of cardiovascular disease, I have watched many a hypothesis spring to life in the middle of a conversation. For example, I was at a meeting where an ‘expert’ was attempting to describe what foods cause CVD. Pizza was […]
(Calcification) Yes, part X, and not at the end… yet. Before trying to sum up I thought I should discuss calcification of the arteries. This is an area I have tended to shy away from in the past, because I am not sure exactly where to place it. Association, end-result, cause… Ignore. Firstly, what is […]
[By heart disease I mean, the development of atherosclerotic plaques in large arteries. Mainly the coronary arteries (supplying blood to the heart) and carotid arteries (supplying blood to the brain). This, I will refer to as Cardiovascular Disease CVD. Not entirely accurate, but language never is.] At this point, I am going to start at […]
I think I have become a connoisseur of scientific double-think. Swilling the most ridiculous statements around my glass with relish, and enjoying the finest vintages. Last week, whilst I was on holiday, someone sent me a piece about statins and coronary artery calcification. I’m not sure what such people think I do on my holidays […]
‘Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.’ Winston Churchill Anyone reading this blog will know that I do not believe a raised LDL/Cholesterol causes heart disease. I am not going to bore you with my reasoning here. Suffice to say […]
Dr. Malcolm Kendrick 