You just found out you have plaque in your coronary arteries, even with no symptoms and a normal cholesterol panel. Here's exactly what I do next as a cardiologist: the three real goals of treatment, and how we actually get there.
About half of first heart attacks happen with no warning symptoms and no known heart disease beforehand. If your coronary CT or calcium score just came back with plaque on it, that's not a reason to panic, it's an opportunity most people never get. In this video I break down what your results actually mean (narrowing vs. plaque burden vs. plaque type), the three goals of treatment once plaque is found (regress it, stabilize it, prevent more), and the four "buckets" I walk every patient through to figure out why they developed plaque in the first place.
In this video:What stenosis, plaque burden, and plaque composition actually mean- Can plaque really be reversed? What the evidence supports– Why stabilizing plaque can matter as much as shrinking it- The four buckets I use to find out why you have plaque: ApoB, metabolic/vascular health, inflammation, and genetics/Lp(a)- How I decide whether someone needs lifestyle changes, supplements, medication, or a combination

Your LDL is 90. Your doctor calls that normal. So why does your scan show plaque anyway?

In this video, I break down 5 reasons a "normal" LDL can hide real coronary plaque — including two most people have never had checked (ApoB and Lp(a)) and how insulin resistance quietly skews the numbers you do see.

A normal LDL doesn't mean zero risk. It's one piece of a bigger picture.

🔔 Subscribe for weekly videos on early detection and precision heart care - and tell me in the comments: Has this ever happened to you?

📱 RESOURCES

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrMonaShahMD
Website: https://drmonashah.com/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/drmonashahmd/
Blog: https://drmonashah.wordpress.com/

Recommended next videos:
The 7 Labs I Check Beyond a Standard Cholesterol Panel: https://youtu.be/6IaHhJlAl3k
Everything You've Been Told About Cholesterol and Heart Disease Is Wrong: https://youtu.be/0FoyQuc8QGw
The Heart Scan That Shows ALL Your Plaque: https://youtu.be/4QAAQU5yYGQ

ABOUT DR. MONA SHAH:
Dr. Mona Shah is a triple board-certified cardiologist in cardiology, holistic medicine, and coronary CT. After 20 years inside conventional cardiology, she left to build a practice that does what the standard system rarely does: look inside the artery wall before something goes wrong. She uses advanced imaging, including coronary CTA with AI analysis, to give patients a real picture of their cardiac risk. She specializes in patients with a family history of heart disease, elevated ApoB or Lp(a), and anyone who has been told they're fine but still isn't sure.

#HeartHealth #ApoB #PreventiveCardiology

You have plaque. Now what? Half the internet says everyone over 50 needs a statin. The other half says statins are poison. Both sides are missing the point, and getting stuck between them can cost you years of protection you didn't need to lose.

In this episode, I'm going to walk you through the real truth about statins, the newer non statin medications most people have never heard of, and where supplements actually fit into a plaque reversal plan.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Cardiologist Reveals the #1 Thing She Recommends Alongside Statins
1:57 What we're actually targeting with ApoB
3:15 Why the old cholesterol model fails patients
5:07 The truth about statins nobody explains
7:14 Non statin options beyond statins
8:57 Why I take a PCSK9 inhibitor myself
10:20 Where supplements can genuinely help
11:15 Questions to ask your cardiologist
12:10 Building your own precision plan

❓ QUESTIONS ANSWERED

What should you do if a coronary CTA shows plaque?
Focus on lowering ApoB and inflammation using the right mix of diet, supplements, and medication for your specific numbers. A single drug or lifestyle change alone rarely solves plaque risk, so treatment needs to be personalized to your labs and imaging.

Are statins bad for you?
No, statins have decades of evidence showing they lower heart attacks, strokes, and death. The right statin and dose depends on the individual, so they are not one size fits all, and dismissing them outright ignores strong outcome data.

What are alternatives to statins for lowering cholesterol?
Options include ezetimibe, PCSK9 inhibitors like repatha or inclisiran, and bempedoic acid, all of which have proven outcome data beyond simply lowering lab numbers. These can be used alongside or instead of statins depending on your ApoB and Lp(a) results.

📱 RESOURCES
Website: www.drmonashah.com
IG: https://www.instagram.com/drmonashahmd/
Blog: https://drmonashah.wordpress.com/

🔔 Subscribe for weekly content on what preventive cardiology actually looks like, including the tests, labs, and conversations most cardiologists never start.

ABOUT DR. MONA SHAH:
Dr. Mona Shah is a triple board-certified cardiologist in cardiology, holistic medicine, and coronary CT. After 20 years inside conventional cardiology, she left to build a practice that does what the standard system rarely does: look inside the artery wall before something goes wrong. She uses advanced imaging, including coronary CTA with AI analysis, to give patients a real picture of their cardiac risk. She specializes in patients with a family history of heart disease, elevated ApoB or Lp(a), and anyone who has been told they're fine but still isn't sure.

#HeartDisease #PreventiveCardiology #CoronaryCTA #HeartAttackPrevention #HolisticCardiologist