Ep. 352 Lipid Masterclass: Apo-B Labs and Women’s Heart Health with Dr. Thomas Dayspring

Dr. Thomas Dayspring joins me again today for the third class in our Lipid Masterclass Series. Dr. Dayspring brings a wealth of expertise as a certified specialist in internal medicine and clinical lipidology, holding fellowships with the American College of Physicians and the National Lipid Association.
This hour-long class is devoted to women’s health and abnormal lipids. We continue with our conversation about ApoB, discussing ways to look at other lipid abnormalities related to abnormal ApoBs and talking about our ideal lab values and lifestyle modifications, briefly touching on my lipid journey and the medication I have been taking for the past six months. We examine diagnostics and their limitations, getting into CACs, coronary artery calcification scoring, CIMT, the labs we need to look at, the role of Lp(a), and how it affects our heart. We look into the changes women experience from losing estrogen in menopause, clues women can use to predict future cardiovascular risk, how estrogen helps clear LDL from the body, and the changes occurring with menopause, including higher ApoBs. We also dive into risks women face for cardiovascular disease, the impact of the Women’s Health Initiative study, and absorption and synthesis challenges with cholesterol.
Stay tuned for more!

Ep. 336 Lipid Masterclass: An Introduction to Lipids and Cholesterol with Dr. Thomas Dayspring

Today, I am excited to share the first class in a series of lipid masterclasses with the amazing Dr. Thomas Dayspring!
Dr. Dayspring is certified in internal medicine and clinical epidemiology and is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and the National Lipid Association. He was previously the Educational Director of a nonprofit organization and has served as the Chief Academic Advisor for two major cardiovascular labs.
Due to the in-depth nature of my discussions with Dr. Dayspring over several sessions, each lasting nearly six hours, it seemed logical to present these masterclasses in segmented chunks to make them easier to understand.
In our first class today, we dive into the fundamentals, exploring what lipids are and how lipids and fatty acids are classified. We cover the physiology and transportation of cholesterol and the role of apoptosis, apo-proteins, and apo-lipoproteins, unravel the differences between HDL, LDL, IDL, and VLDL, and explain how to calculate LDLs and triglycerides for assessing metabolic health. Dr. Dayspring also shares his preferences regarding lab values and the indicators that provide information to help him determine the early risk of cardiovascular disease.
We get into some detailed aspects of physical chemistry in this episode, so I highlight the main clinical points throughout our conversation to make it more understandable.
Be sure to join Dr. Dayspring and me for our next episode in the lipid masterclass series.