Dr. Paul D. Thompson

0. Dr. Paul D. Thompson. Cholesterol, statins, and exercise cardiology. Biography. 0

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, is a cardiologist whose work centers on cholesterol, statins, and exercise and the heart. This introduction outlines his training, academic...

1. How can I lower my cholesterol? 1

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, explains how genes, diet, and medications affect cholesterol levels. He compares the LDL reductions he describes with dietary changes and...

2. LDL, HDL & triglycerides explained 2

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, explains HDL, LDL, triglycerides, and lipoprotein(a). He discusses why a family history of early heart disease can matter even when...

3. Does high cholesterol cause symptoms? 3

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, explains why high cholesterol usually goes unnoticed unless it is measured or causes heart problems. He describes a rare tendon...

4. How often to check your cholesterol 4

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, discusses when cholesterol testing is useful and how he follows patients after starting medication. He distinguishes an initial check from...

5. Is high cholesterol inherited? 5

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, uses simple comparisons to show how inherited genes for liver receptors and particle proteins push blood cholesterol up, and why...

6. If high cholesterol is left untreated 6

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, explains that the danger of leaving high cholesterol untreated varies from person to person. He shows how he weighs a...

7. How to lower cholesterol without statins? 7

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, outlines options for people who want to avoid statins, from a strict plant-based diet to ezetimibe, colesevelam, niacin, and PCSK9...

8. What cholesterol level is too high? 8

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, explains that no single cholesterol number is high for everyone. He describes how diabetes, a previous heart attack and overall...

9. High cholesterol: what to monitor 9

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, explains what a person with high cholesterol should keep track of from day to day: diet, weekly exercise, and saturated...

10. Preventing high cholesterol 10

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, draws on his own research with distance runners to explain why exercise lowers LDL cholesterol only slightly, why it has...

11. Which cholesterol blood tests matter? 11

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, lists the blood tests he orders for people with high cholesterol and explains what each one adds, from thyroid and...

12. Why is my cholesterol extremely high? 12

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, explains how he traces extremely high cholesterol to its source, from family history and inherited genes to thyroid and kidney...

13. Calcium score zero: what it means 13

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, explains what a coronary calcium score of zero means, why age and lipoprotein(a) change how it should be read, and...

14. Muscle pain on statins - facts & myths 14

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, describes a six-month placebo-controlled study of high-dose atorvastatin and skeletal muscle. He explains what share of muscle pain he attributes...

15. Statins & exercise. High creatine kinase 15

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, explains what a high creatine kinase level means for someone taking a statin, drawing on marathon research and his studies...

16. Statins & autoimmune myopathy 16

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, explains which muscle symptoms on a statin call for stopping it and contacting a doctor, and how a rare immune...

17. The statin "Rule of six" 17

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, explains why doubling a statin dose adds little LDL lowering, what his group found with rosuvastatin given twice weekly, and...

18. Bempedoic acid to lower LDL: when to use 18

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, explains how bempedoic acid lowers LDL cholesterol for people who cannot tolerate statins, why it should spare skeletal muscle, which...

19. Can CoQ10 help statin muscle pain? 19

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, describes how his group verifies statin-related muscle pain before testing treatments, that coenzyme Q10 did not help in their study,...

20. Cholesterol treatment: how long to take statins? 20

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, explains why he generally recommends staying on cholesterol medication for life, when he may stop it, and what long-term follow-up...

21. "Dose" of exercise to decrease heart disease risks 21

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, explains why exercise helps the heart before a person gets in shape, the weekly amounts he recommends, how gains change...

22. Exercise: heart benefits & risks. Sudden death 22

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, explains why vigorous exercise can briefly raise the chance of a heart attack, why he still recommends exercise, and which...

23. Marathon running: heart risks, cardiac arrest 23

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, explains how he sees heart risk for recreational marathon runners, when a runner should see a doctor, where in the...

24. How endurance training can damage the heart 24

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, describes how thinking about marathon running and heart protection has changed, the heart findings reported in lifelong high-level endurance athletes,...

25. Cholesterol treatment: common pitfalls 25

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, describes the pitfalls he has run into when treating high cholesterol with statins: how long treatment lasts, worry about side...

26. Statin side effects: the nocebo effect 26

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, explains the nocebo effect in statin muscle pain. He describes a 420-patient placebo-controlled study from his group and the crossover...

27. Coronary calcium in athletes: what to do 27

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, explains why he considers high coronary calcium in endurance athletes not benign, how he says these athletes should be treated,...

28. Exercise after a heart attack: how much is enough? 28

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, discusses how much weekly exercise he recommends, why the gains flatten at high levels of activity, why he advises cardiac...

29. The future of cholesterol treatment 29

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, describes how little exercise lowers LDL cholesterol, how many people stop cholesterol medication within a year, and how an infused...

30. Cholesterol treatment: questions to ask 30

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, names the question patients most often ask about cholesterol-lowering medication and the questions he thinks they should ask about their...

31. Patients: Help your doctor help you. Be kind to the medical team 31

Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, explains how patients can help their doctor help them: arriving with prepared questions, treating clinic staff kindly, sharing their medication...

Cholesterol, statins, and exercise cardiology