Lower Cholesterol with Diet and Exercise verses Medications by Deb McConnell

Web Site: Plant Based Diet

bonjourdebbie — 2025-09-14 16:17:19 UTC

This is a website health resource that is provided by UPMC Health Plan to assist members with healthy dietary choices to improve their heart health. This topic is a good resource for those at high risk for cardiovascular disease and it discusses food insecurities which also contribute to the increased risk. This artifact does site multiple evidence-based scientific research. One is,

‘Food is medicine’ shows potential for improving diet quality and food security. (n.d.). American Heart Association. https://newsroom.heart.org/news/food-is-medicine-shows-potential-for-improving-diet-quality-and-food-security

Web Site: What is High Cholesterol?

bonjourdebbie — 2025-09-14 16:32:26 UTC

This website is provided by The Cleveland Clinic. It is a comprehensive resource for anyone who needs information about high cholesterol. This site refers to multiple evidence-based research that was used to compile this informative site. One is, Heart Disease Facts. (2024, October 24). Heart Disease. https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease/data-research/facts-stats/?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm. This also explains how high cholesterol can affect other aspects of our health besides are heart. This is organized well and written in a format anyone can comprehend.

Video - How to Lower Cholesterol with Diet

bonjourdebbie — 2025-09-14 16:52:43 UTC

This YouTube video, resented by a medical physician, focuses on diet and how what food items can assist with lowering cholesterol numbers. This information can assist anyone who wants to modify their diet. I have done this myself this year. My LDL has gone from 169 to 69. Eating less saturated fats, carbs, and sugary food, and increasing fiber with fruits and vegetables, and increased exercise, has really helped me. My weight is down 20 lbs. This has helped my overall health outlook by teaching me how to eat better, and most importantly has lowered by cardiovascular risks. There is a lot of videos on YouTube, come are not based on reliable research. This one is, the physician mentions evidence-based studies and information from the American Heart Association. American Heart Association. (n.d.). Lower your LDL. www.heart.org. https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/cholesterol/hdl-good-ldl-bad-cholesterol-and-triglycerides/lower-your-ldl

Video: Cholesterol Lowering Medications

bonjourdebbie — 2025-09-14 17:15:55 UTC

This YouTube video content is from Dirty Medicine. This is a YouTube Channel with a monthly subscription. The reliability of this site and information may not be the best source of evidence-based information. The target audience appears to be medical students who need to learn the different types of cholesterol lowering medications. In the comments a student said they passed Pharmacology 1 by using this channel as an adjunct learning tool. He even mentions tests questions that students may encounter during class testing. He focuses on what should be memorized with each medications discussed. I cannot find on his channel his credentials. He does have a lot of medical topic videos to learn from. If I were to utilize this resource, I would then find my own evidence-based research to back up any of the findings or topics he discusses. I don't know if he is a physician or not. He does have almost 900K subscribers. Dirty Medicine - YouTube

An evidence-based resource that would be a good resource to use is, Basak, A. (2025). Oral and Non-Oral Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs with PCSK9 and Other Biomolecules as Targets: Present Status and Future Prospects. Biomolecules, 15(4), 468. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom15040468.

Podcast: Cholesterol Podcast Series

bonjourdebbie — 2025-09-16 15:54:15 UTC

This is an apple podcast series from the American Heart Association all about cholesterol. The information presented is from evidenced-based research and is good for both healthcare providers and anyone who wants to gain knowledge about lowering their cholesterol. I particularly liked the one on, "The Importance of Bridging the Gap in Lipid Management" it's focus was on taking bias out of this health topic. The "Coronary Calcification (CAC Score)" podcast can be used by clinicians to guide prognosis and treatment of hyperlipidemia. We use this score in my cardiology office. To test for this, it is a CT scan for coronary calcium. If Calcium level is found over 100, the cholesterol medications are increased to lower a patient's risk of coronary blockage. I myself have high cholesterol so I had this test done. Fortunately, my score was 0, so my cholesterol medications did not need adjusted. The American Heart Association establishes a lot of cardiac guidelines that are used in cardiology care, and this is reliable information. Here is a research article to support the use of getting a coronary calcium score. Pavlović, J., Bos, D., Ikram, M. K., Ikram, M. A., Kavousi, M., & Leening, M. J. G. (2025). Guideline-Directed Application of Coronary artery calcium scores for primary prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular Disease. JACC. Cardiovascular Imaging. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcmg.2024.12.008

Podcast: TED Health

bonjourdebbie — 2025-09-16 16:07:10 UTC

This podcast site features audio collectives based on Ted Talks from actual conferences presented by experts. Expert use evidence-based research to base their clinical recommendations on, so these podcasts are targeting healthcare professionals. Anyone who listens can benefit from the information presented. There is a focus on health equity, to provide everyone with optimal health to improve outcomes. The information presented in these Ted Talks can be used for clinical guidance and treatment options. The "Do you really need to take 10,000 steps a day?" podcast was presented by a physician. Research has concluded that exercise can help you\ lose weight and increase circulation. Weight loss can contribute to improved health and lower cholesterol levels. Overall lowering your cardiovascular risks of heart attack or stroke. Here is a research article to support the exercise Ted Talk. Tucker, W. J., Fegers-Wustrow, I., Halle, M., Haykowsky, M. J., Chung, E. H., & Kovacic, J. C. (2022). Exercise for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 80(11), 1091–1106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2022.07.004

Instagram: Resource for good dietary habits and the importance of exercise.

bonjourdebbie — 2025-09-16 16:53:28 UTC

This is an Instagram site I found. Above it the just an image of the site from my cell phone. This Instagram site is created by a registered dietician. The focus is on healthy eating to improve overall health and how added exercise also contributes. It appears the main target audience is for anyone wishing to improve their diet., but there is also a link to click on to read about dietary studies, which is good for healthcare providers. I clicked it and the first one that came up took me to this... The Best Time of Day to Exercise to Make It a Habit

which is an article on the EatingWell web site. At the bottom of this article, they list Sources from evidence-based research...

"EatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy."

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics. Exercise or physical activity.
American College of Sports Medicine. Physical activity guidelines.
Schumacher LM, Thomas JG, Raynor HA, Rhodes RE, Bond DS. Consistent morning exercise may be beneficial for individuals with obesity. Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2020;48(4):201-208. doi:10.1249/JES.0000000000000226
Riddell MC, Turner LV, Patton SR. Is there an optimal time of day for exercise? A commentary on when to exercise for people living with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Spectr. 2023;36(2):146-150. doi:10.2337/dsi22-0017

APP: EatO

bonjourdebbie — 2025-09-16 17:16:51 UTC

This AI APP helps you determine the nutritional content of food and drink items, to help you lose weight. It scans your food or the nutrition label, and will identify calorie counts, fat, protein, sodium, net carbs, fiber, and sugar in the food items. This is an app you need to purchase for the full functionality. I am currently using this to help me to loose weight to help lower my own cholesterol level. In order to lose weight, you need a calorie deficit. This app collects your personal biological information and calculates how many calories you need per day based on your target weight. The app is actually teaching me the Nutrional contents of all the food I consume without having to spend hours a day looking up nutrition information. The target audience is anyone who wants or needs to count calories. Good for diabetics also. For myself as a nurse who educates people on proper diet to optimize their heart health, I find this tool very educational.

This 10-year study concludes that obesity increases cardiovascular risks, therefore weight loss is an important modifiable aspect. Yang, H., Zhang, T., Wang, D., Loi, E., Geng, Q., Wu, B., Wang, X., & Cai, R. (2025). A Systematic Bibliometric analysis of cardiovascular disease risk in obesity (2014–2024). Taylor & Francis. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.2147/JMDH.S504022

Facebook: Dr. David Jockers

bonjourdebbie — 2025-09-16 17:37:27 UTC

This is an image of a Facebook page, that is created by a physician and provides health information for anyone searching on Facebook. There is a disclaimer attached to his site that states the FDA has not evaluated his information and this is for educational purposes only. Even though his information may be evidenced-based and reliable, he may have to attach such a disclosure for legal aspects. He does cite his information with evidence-based research, for example from the American Heart Association. Cholesterol Medications | American Heart Association American Heart Association. (2025, August 26). Cholesterol medications. www.heart.org. https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/cholesterol/prevention-and-treatment-of-high-cholesterol-hyperlipidemia/cholesterol-medications

His information is also a good source of education for the healthcare provider. You just need to verify that the information is evidence-based. Medications for lowering cholesterol while effective pose a lot of side effects. We struggle with these mediations the most in my cardiology office. Statins drugs have the most side effects. Insurance companies will not approve the injection type meds unless multiple statins have been tried and failed. This can make treatment take a long time to become effective. This is why modifying diet and exercise is also very important.

Blog: Lowering Cholesterol with Smart Dietary Choices

bonjourdebbie — 2025-09-16 17:48:37 UTC

This blog is written by a physician. I found it by doing a google search online. He currently has over 700 subscribers. He presents a list of good food and drink items to help lower cholesterol naturally. While this site did not have any evidence-based citing's listed, it is a good source of information, I feel it is not targeted to healthcare providers. I found this helpful as it linked to other healthcare concerns of interest. As a nurse anything I found on this blog would need backed up by a scholarly search. For example, this American Dietary Guideline I found. Sanders, L. M., Allen, J. C., Blankenship, J., Decker, E. A., Christ‐Erwin, M., Hentges, E. J., Jones, J. M., Mohamedshah, F. Y., Ohlhorst, S. D., Ruff, J., & Wegner, J. (2021). Implementing the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans: Recommendations for a path forward. Journal of Food Science, 86(12), 5087–5099. https://doi.org/10.1111/1750-3841.15969

Image: Teaching Tool 4 Outpatient Cardiology

bonjourdebbie — 2025-09-16 18:38:18 UTC

This is an image we use in my cardiology office to show our patient's a visual so they can see why it is important to lower your LDL cholesterol level. It shows them how elevated LDL narrows their cardiac arteries and increases their risk for cardiac events such as heart attack or stroke. The new guidelines say optimal LDL is <55. We use this goal for our patients. We educate on the importance of diet, exercise, and medication use.

Navar, A. M., Shah, N. P., Shrader, P., Thomas, L. E., Ahmad, Z., Allred, C., Chamberlain, A. M., Chrischilles, E. A., Dhalwani, N., Effron, M. B., Hayek, S., Jones, L. K., Kalich, B., Shapiro, M. D., Wójcik, C., & Peterson, E. D. (2024). Achievement of LDL-C <55 mg/dL among US adults: Findings from the cvMOBIUS2 registry. American Heart Journal, 279, 107–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ahj.2024.06.012

Website: Lipid Lowering Guidelines

bonjourdebbie — 2025-09-16 18:48:41 UTC

This article is for healthcare providers. It outlines cholesterol lowering medications and guidelines established by The American College of Cardiology. It focuses on risk stratification and treatment. Intended audience is healthcare providers. The cardiologists in my office follow these guidelines.

We have seen great results with PCSK9 inhibitors such as Repatha and Praluent.

The challenge with using these injectable medications is the insurance companies will not always cover the costs or approve the drug's use. To get prior auth for these drugs patients have to have tried and failed multiple statin drugs and or Zetia. Failure is either from side effects like myalgia or the max dose of the statins plus Zetia are no longer effective to lower LDL cholesterol numbers.