Checking The Math in New Statin Guidelines

Checking The Math in New Statin Guidelines

From Research Translation Podcast by David Newman

April 22, 2026 · 45 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the new AHA lipid guidelines and explores a medical case related to aortic dissection.

Today’s piece is an interlude in the Cholesterol Mistake series (parts 1 , 2 , 3 , and 4 ) which was inspired by the new AHA lipid guidelines. I got sidetracked by the figure below from those guidelines, and ended up in the weeds—deep enough to go much longer than normal. Apologies for length, hope the payoff is worthy. Next week part 5, back to brevity! “He says the chest pain started suddenly an hour ago, it feels ‘tearing’, and radiates to his back, shoulders, and arms.” Jeff, my senior resident, raised an eyebrow as he presented the case of a 48 year-old man. “He’s in a lot of pain, too. I ordered dilaudid—he says that’s worked for him in the past—and I put him first in line for CT.” Jeff ended with a question, “So, maybe I’ll call surgery?” I nodded. “Let me talk to him first” I said, walking toward room 3. “Ok,” Jeff hesitated. “I feel like we should hustle, you know? I think he’s dissecting.” A tear in the wall of the body’s main artery—aortic dissection—can be rapidly fatal. “I get it. Give me two minutes.” Turning the corner, I glimpsed the man in room 3. He was well dressed and appeared comfortable. In the room I examined him carefully and listened intently to his…

People in this episode

Host: David Newman

Topics covered

  • statin guidelines
  • cholesterol
  • aortic dissection
  • healthcare
  • medical case study

Keywords

  • statin
  • cholesterol
  • AHA guidelines
  • aortic dissection
  • medical case

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: AHA

Products: dilaudid

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