For so long, dealing with cholesterol felt like a shell game. I thought I understood how to identify the problem and how to treat it. But thresholds, targets, and guidelines kept changing. The (few) tools I was taught to use didn’t really seem to cut it. With statin therapy dominating the conversation, I even struggled to make sense of how integrative practitioners could make a difference. I’ve flip-flopped on dietary recommendations and suggested niacin reflexively more times than I care to remember.

Patients were coming in confused by their results, frustrated by the lack of direction from their other providers, and left wondering if it even really mattered at all. I often felt unable to adequately answer their questions about what they should do, let alone answer with confidence.

I hated the feeling that patients were falling through the cracks. I worried they would miss an opportunity for change we would both regret down the road.

So I said enough is enough. I needed to know how to answer the questions coming from my patients … and myself.

I wanted to deliver reliable guidance, and results, in an area increasingly troubled with confusion and misinformation.

I started digging and searching and reading.

I got better at explaining lab work and pointing out what might be missing. I became familiar with the pros and cons of risk calculators and how to use them to help direct next steps.

I helped patients develop sustainable lifestyle strategies and encouraged them when they were told drugs were the only solution before even being given the chance to try something else.

But I also learned when to recommend lipid-lowering drugs. And how to complement those drugs for the best outcomes.

And when it felt like I couldn’t always find the information I wanted, I joined the National Lipid Association and started taking courses. I passed the Lipid Competency Certificate examination offered by the Accreditation Council for Clinical Lipidology.

Now I get excited helping people with their high cholesterol!