NNT for MACE prevention — July 2024

hank_denver said:

Dizziness and cardiovascular risk: I was lightheaded for the first 2 weeks.

Cardiac biomarkers and cardiovascular risk: my cardiologist ordered advanced cardiac labs given my family history. Results were encouraging:

• NT-proBNP: 53 pg/mL (normal, cardiac function preserved)
• Lp(a): 43 nmol/L (genetic, unchanged — expected)
• ApoB: dropped from 148 to 93 mg/dL (excellent response)
• Coronary calcium score: 0 (unchanged from baseline — reassuring)

The ApoB reduction is particularly meaningful — it's considered the best single predictor of cardiovascular risk. GLP-1 therapy seems to improve this consistently.

hank_denver said:

Dizziness and cardiovascular risk: I was lightheaded for the first 2 weeks.

Genuinely useful, thank you. I had the facts and not the framework. Taking it to my next appointment.

From the other side of the consultation, briefly. The distinction that resolves most of these threads is between what is true on average and what is true for one person. Both are real; they answer different questions and get quoted as if they were the same one.

Correct me if the detail matters more than I have assumed.

LipidDoc_ATL said:

The distinction that resolves most of these threads is between what is true on average and what is true for one person.

Can confirm. Same sequence, different timescale. Nothing to add that would improve it.

LipidDoc_ATL said:

The distinction that resolves most of these threads is between what is true on average and what is true for one person.

Coming at LipidDoc_ATL’s question from a different direction. The version of this that has an answer is narrower than the version being asked. Narrow it and it becomes tractable; leave it broad and the thread will produce nine confident and incompatible replies.