The SCVC Blog

Cardiovascular care news and articles from our expert team

Cholesterol, LDL, and what we learnt from PCSK9 mutations in familial hypercholesterolaemia

PCSK9 binds to LDL receptors and directs them to be destroyed within the cell, rather than allowing them to recycle to the surface. When too much PCSK9 is present, fewer LDL receptors remain available to clear LDL from the blood. The result is simple: LDL levels rise. When that happens, the liver compensates by making even more cholesterol internally. This is why around 90% of the cholesterol in your blood is made by your liver, not absorbed from your diet.

Why everyone is talking about VAT

An article written by Dr Edward Leatham, Consultant Cardiologist Tags: VAT, Diabetes, NH1, search website using Tags to find related stories. While everyone might think the term ‘VAT’ stands for value added tax, we all need to recognise this new health […]

Who Can You Trust? The Rise of Anti-Statin Narratives and the Crisis of Trust in Modern Medicine

One of the greatest challenges in the online world is investigator bias. Any “expert” with a strong conviction — whether pro- or anti-statin — can easily find studies that appear to confirm their view. The internet is full of such cherry-picked data. When presented with confident authority, this can sound utterly convincing to a lay audience. The reality is that true medical understanding does not come from one paper, one YouTube video, or one self-proclaimed authority.

Ho Ho Healthy: What Santa’s Belly Can Teach Us About Metabolic Health

Santa’s famous belly is festive, but it highlights an important metabolic lesson: WHERE fat is stored matters more than how it looks. Visceral fat, hidden deep around the organs, drives inflammation and cardiometabolic risk — unlike softer, subcutaneous fat. Understanding this difference is key to real metabolic health.

Microdose GLP-1 Mimetics Reduce Visceral Adipose Tissue

The most effective path to reducing visceral fat with the help of GLP-1 mimetic is not just to “eat less.” It’s to build more muscle, eat smarter, and track your progress. In this blog, which also forms one of the chapters of an ebook, I outline the programme and tools our patients use in our cardiometabolic clinic.

The Insulin Paradox: How GLP-1 Drugs Reduce Belly Fat and Heart Risk

GLP-1 drugs seem paradoxical: they enhance insulin action yet shrink dangerous belly fat. The explanation lies in restoring normal insulin timing, reducing chronic insulin exposure, and reversing fat “spillover” from liver to abdomen. Real patient cases show rapid visceral fat loss alongside smoother glucose profiles and lower cardiovascular risk.

Are New Heart Medicines Revealing the Real Culprit? Why Visceral Fat May Be the Missing Link in Heart Disease

The keto and Atkins diets have profound effects on hepatic lipid metabolism, and hence on LDL cholesterol handling. Let’s unpack this carefully through the lens of the endogenous cholesterol pathway.

Turn the Thermostat Down: How a Cooler Home May Improve Insulin Sensitivity and Reduce VAT

Raised visceral fat quietly disrupts thyroid chemistry, increasing reverse T3 and lowering active T3 inside tissues. This pushes the body into metabolic “conservation mode” — slowing energy, mood and fat loss despite normal blood tests. Reducing VAT gradually restores healthy thyroid activation and metabolic resilience.

Why Protein Matters More Than Ever as We Age

Adequate protein and resistance training are essential for healthy ageing and reducing visceral fat. As we grow older, muscles become less responsive, making higher protein intake vital to preserve strength, metabolism, and independence. Building and feeding muscle is the most effective way to improve insulin sensitivity, raise metabolic rate, and burn harmful VAT.

Cardiometabolic Tools

Patients often ask about home monitoring tools — ECG devices, blood pressure monitors, glucose apps. We now also encourage people to track their waistline and visceral fat, using body composition scales alongside more traditional equipment.To support this, I have created a page of recommended home gadgets that can help patients take greater ownership of their health — a vital step towards a more proactive, prevention-focused model of care, guided by their clinical and educational team.

How to Reduce Visceral Fat Without Medication

The most effective path to reducing visceral fat without medication is not just to “eat less.” It’s to build more muscle, eat smarter, and track your progress. In this blog, which also forms one of the chapters of an ebook, I outline the programme and tools our patients use in our cardiometabolic clinic.

N-of-1: Why Your Best Health Plan Starts With You

Traditional health improvement plans assume everyone responds the same way. Real life tells us otherwise. N-of-1 explains how to use a personalised, precision-medicine approach to reduce visceral fat, stabilise metabolism and rebuild long-term health. Through weekly reflections, practical tools and small self-experiments, the book guides you to uncover what truly works for you — not for the average patient, but for your own unique physiology.

Examples of CT VAT scans and normal ranges for VATI

At SCVC we use low dose CT to measure visceral adipose tissue (VAT). With a radiation dose of 1mSv - equivalent to 1/4 of the dose used in a mammogram. The test determines what proportion of an expanded waistline is visceral (metabolically dangerous) versus subcutaneous (metabolically benign) fat. When combined with other anthropometrics such as weight, height, waist we use AI to calculate a metabolically healthy target waist and weight to aim for. A example of a repeat scan after 3 months of GLP-1 mimetic is also shown.

“ChatGPT Says My Thyroid Might Be Underactive… What Next?”

Some small studies show lower T3 inside fat tissue in people with obesity. This doesn’t mean systemic hypothyroidism — it simply suggests inflammation may reduce local T3 activation. Raised visceral fat quietly disrupts thyroid chemistry, increasing reverse T3 and lowering active T3 inside tissues.