Own Your Heart Health with Dr. Regina Druz

Dr. Regina Druz
  • 4.2 (5)
  • Health & Fitness
  • Updated Weekly

Own your heart health — with clarity, confidence, and science that works. I’m Dr. Regina Druz, Cornell- and Duke-trained cardiologist and a national leader in holistic, root-cause cardiology. This channel cuts through outdated advice to bring you expert insights and actionable strategies to reverse and prevent heart disease — naturally and effectively. You’ll discover: How to lower blood pressure without confusion The truth about cholesterol, statins, and alternatives How metabolic health, hormones, sleep, and stress drive heart disease Lifestyle solutions that fuel longevity, vitality, and freedom from fear Through focused playlists and myth-busting content, you’ll gain the tools to: ✅ Understand your real risks ✅ Take control of your health journey ✅ Live longer, stronger, and better Subscribe today and join a community where your heart health — and your future — are the priority.

  1. 6d ago

    The Number Is Not the Outcome

    Does lowering LDL cholesterol prevent your next heart attack? Three trials put that question into sharper focus this year, and the results turn on one idea most patients never hear about. It is called absolute risk reduction, and it changes what a lab result actually means for you.   This episode of Own Your Heart Health is a remix, pulling together clips from past conversations to explain what these new trials mean. Host Dr. Regina Druz, a Cornell- and Duke-trained cardiologist, opens with a trial in which 82 percent of heart attack patients treated with evolocumab hit an aggressive LDL goal, yet their outcomes a year later did not differ significantly from those of patients treated more conventionally. She uses absolute risk reduction and number needed to treat, the two numbers she says patients deserve to hear before starting any medication, to explain why.   The remix brings back voices from earlier episodes to build out the answer. Dr. Ernst Schaefer, a lipidologist whose career includes work with the Framingham Heart Study, explains how low LDL should go. Dr. Kim Williams, a plant-based cardiologist, shares where he lands on statin side effects and diet. Dr. Guy Mintz, who directs the lipoprotein apheresis program at Northwell Health, gives his approach to lipoprotein(a) in a young patient who looks low-risk on paper. Dr. Regina closes with precision cardiology, using imaging to reveal a patient's true vascular age, and explains why time to therapeutic benefit matters as much as the number on a lab report.   Press play to leave with three questions to bring to your own doctor before you start, stop, or change anything. This is education, not medical advice, so talk with your physician about your own care.   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 An 82% LDL Goal With No Significant Outcome Difference 01:30 Statin Trial Results in Adults Over 70 03:00 PCSK9 Shot Before the Cath Lab 04:50 Lipoprotein(a) Drug Trial Misses Its Primary Endpoint 07:30 Relative vs Absolute Risk Reduction Explained 11:30 Cholesterol Matters and How Low to Go 22:00 Dr. Guy Mintz on Lipoprotein(a) Strategy 31:20 A 56-Year-Old's Calcium Score and Vascular Age 38:00 Residual Risk and Personalized Risk Estimates 41:30 Three Questions to Ask About Your Risk   Episodes and Resources Mentioned: Episode 16 - Statin Overprescribing Solution (S.O.S.) Part 1 (Apr 2025) Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Episode 20 - Got LDL Cholesterol? Let's Play Cholesterol Marbles! (Jun 2025) Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Episode 4 - Busting the LDL Cholesterol Myth with Dr. Ernst Schaefer (Oct 2024) Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Episode 13 - Vegiterranean, Anyone? Yes, Please! with Dr. Kim Williams (Mar 2025) Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Episode 25 - The Biggest Little Troublemaker, Unpacking Lipoprotein(a) with Dr. Guy Mintz (Aug 2025) Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Episode 11 - Three Men Walk Onto a Golf Course, Calcium Score Revisited (Feb 2025) Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Episode 37 - How Do You HeartWell? When Risk Scores Miss the Mark (Feb 2026) Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts   Trials Cited in This Episode: STAREE Trial (ESC Press Release) AMUNDSEN Trial (ESC Press Release) Lp(a)HORIZON Topline Results (Novartis, Sept 2026)   Links: Schedule a Discovery Call Access Courses and Events Get Heartwell Toolkits Schedule a Business Meeting   Connect with Dr. Regina Druz: Visit the Holistic Heart Centers website Follow Holistic Heart Centers on Facebook Follow Holistic Heart Centers on X Subscribe to Dr. Regina on YouTube Follow Dr. Regina on Instagram Follow Dr. Regina on TikTok Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

  2. Sep 17

    The Drug Worked. Did You?

    Your cholesterol numbers can drop while your actual heart attack risk barely moves. That gap sits at the center of this week's Own Your Heart Health, where Dr. Regina Druz unpacks what several major 2026 heart trials showed about statin side effects, LDL cholesterol, and how fast real protection shows up.   Dr. Regina starts with a simple cut-finger example to show why a lab number improving in twelve weeks does not mean your arteries have changed. From there she breaks down three separate drug trials. One gave a powerful injectable straight to heart attack patients on their way to the cardiac lab, and the results surprised even her own colleagues.   She also covers statin muscle pain and what the trial data actually show about muscle complaints, how Repatha side effects compare, why PCSK9 inhibitors work through a completely different pathway from statins, and how long it can take for cholesterol lowering to translate into a measurable change in heart attack or stroke risk.   Dr. Regina also explains the 3% 10-year cardiovascular risk threshold discussed in the new guidelines when weighing statin benefits against diabetes risk, plus how she thinks about LDL levels below 50 mg/dL in her own practice. This episode is for educational purposes, not personal medical advice, so bring your own labs and history to your physician before making any changes. Press play to hear how she weighs those numbers against each patient's individual risk and treatment options.   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Welcome Back and a Disappointing Trial Summer 04:41 Major Adverse Cardiac Events Explained 09:26 The Band-Aid Example and HeartWell Toolkit 14:06 Introducing Three Major Cholesterol Trials 18:54 Four Questions to Ask About Any Trial 23:38 The STAREE Trial and Healthy Older Adults 30:27 The AMUNDSEN Trial and an Acute Heart Attack 35:03 The VESALIUS-CV Trial and Primary Prevention Results 41:51 Statin Versus Repatha Questions Patients Ask Most 46:17 How Low Should LDL Go   Links: Schedule a Discovery Call Access Courses and Events Get Heartwell Toolkits Schedule a Business Meeting Connect with Dr. Regina Druz: Visit the Holistic Heart Centers website Follow Holistic Heart Centers on Facebook Follow Holistic Heart Centers on X Subscribe to Dr. Regina on YouTube Follow Dr. Regina on Instagram Follow Dr. Regina on TikTok Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

  3. Aug 20

    The Surprising Power of Reversing Diet and Lifestyle Habits After 50

    Insulin resistance can develop for years before conventional bloodwork tells the full story. Terry Tateossian learned that lesson firsthand after burnout, weight gain, panic attacks, and two hospital visits for symptoms she feared were heart attacks. At the same time, she was unknowingly entering perimenopause at just 37.   On this episode of Own Your Heart Health, Dr. Regina Druz talks with Terry Tateossian, founder of The House of Rose (THOR), about the years she spent chasing weight loss through 33 different diets before anything actually worked. Terry explains why a “slow metabolism” wasn’t the simple explanation she once assumed and what shifted once she stopped restricting and started tracking her food in grams.   They get into why so many women eat inconsistently, 700 calories one day and thousands the next, and how that pattern drives insulin resistance and blocks hormonal balance long before bloodwork catches it. Terry and Dr. Druz also break down why strength training does more for metabolic flexibility than any amount of cardio, and how Terry's own experience led her to build a retreat centered on nutrition, movement, sleep, and nervous system regulation.   If menopause symptoms or stubborn weight have you feeling like your body stopped listening to you, this conversation offers a clearer way to read what's actually happening. Press play to hear it.   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Welcome to Own Your Heart Health with Terry Tateossian 01:21 From Communist Eastern Europe to New York Immigrant Life 05:17 Walking Away From Law School Into the Dot Com Era 09:44 Twelve Offices, Burnout, and a Perimenopause Diagnosis at 37 16:30 Thirty-Three Failed Diets and Losing Control of Her Body 22:22 The Coach Who Refused to Enable Her and What Changed 32:38 Why Insulin Resistance Hides for Years Before Bloodwork Shows It 38:05 Deregulated Nutrient Sensing and the Hallmarks of Aging 40:59 The Food Audit That Reveals What Women Are Really Eating 47:50 Reverse Dieting and Escaping the Metabolic Bermuda Triangle 54:55 Using GLP-1 Medications as a Bridge, Not a Magic Solution 1:00:07 Inside The House of Rose Retreat and Its Philosophy 1:03:25 Terry's Top Three Rules for Women Turning 50   Connect with Terry Tateossian: Join THOR's retreats    Links: Schedule a Discovery Call Access Courses and Events Get Heartwell Toolkits Schedule a Business Meeting Connect with Dr. Regina Druz: Visit the Holistic Heart Centers website Follow Holistic Heart Centers on Facebook Follow Holistic Heart Centers on X Subscribe to Dr. Regina on YouTube Follow Dr. Regina on Instagram Follow Dr. Regina on TikTok Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

  4. Aug 6

    "Just a Little Heart Attack": Why and How Heart Disease Affects Women and What You Should Do About It

    Jaw pain that appeared only while climbing stairs. Blood pressure that looked normal at every doctor’s appointment but rose at home. One woman had a 90% blockage in a major coronary artery. Another had masked hypertension that may have contributed to cardiomyopathy. In both cases, the warning signs were easy to miss.   In this episode of Own Your Heart Health, Dr. Arash Bereliani, a Beverly Hills preventive cardiologist with three decades of experience, joins Dr. Regina Druz to explain why women's cardiovascular health concerns are so often diagnosed too late and what can help catch them earlier.   Dr. Bereliani breaks down the pattern behind underdiagnosis in women, the atypical symptoms doctors write off as anxiety, and a condition called SCAD that disproportionately affects women in their forties and fifties. He also explains how microvascular disease can cause real chest pain even when a normal angiogram shows no major blockages, and why a woman's risk shifts when estrogen drops during menopause.   Dr. Druz shares a case where a simple blood pressure cuff uncovered masked hypertension despite reassuring cardiovascular imaging. The case shows why women's cardiovascular health often depends on looking beyond standard office readings and traditional risk assessments. Press play to hear the questions worth bringing to your next cardiology appointment.   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Dr. Arash Bereliani's Personal Path Into Cardiology 04:19 Why End Stage Treatment Isn't Real Prevention 06:11 Atherosclerosis Takes Twenty Years to Develop 07:16 The Top Risk Factors to Manage Starting in Your Twenties 14:53 Why Prevention Training Still Lags Behind Treatment 16:36 How Cardiology's Risk Models Were Built Without Women 23:28 Risk Calculators Still Don't Account for Women 25:33 What Actually Makes a Woman's Heart Different 32:02 The Bias Behind Underdiagnosis and Late Treatment 35:28 Pregnancy History as a Hidden Cardiovascular Risk Factor 38:23 Dr. Bereliani's Take on Hormone Replacement Therapy 44:21 The Top Three Tests Every Patient Should Get 50:01 Why a Thirty Dollar Blood Pressure Cuff Can Catch What Scans Miss 53:17 Be Your Own Advocate Links: Schedule a Discovery Call Access Courses and Events Get Heartwell Toolkits Schedule a Business Meeting Connect with Dr. Regina Druz: Visit the Holistic Heart Centers website Follow Holistic Heart Centers on Facebook Follow Holistic Heart Centers on X Subscribe to Dr. Regina on YouTube Follow Dr. Regina on Instagram Follow Dr. Regina on TikTok Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

  5. Jul 23

    "Keys to the Kingdom": How Microbes Shape Our Healthspan and Longevity

    A handful of keystone microbes shape how fast your gut, your brain, and your heart age.   On this episode of Own Your Heart Health, host Dr. Regina Druz talks with nutrition and microbiome researcher Dr. Oscar Coetzee about the strains of gut bacteria working less like passengers and more like an organ system of their own. Dr. Coetzee walks through why modern life quietly strips these keystone microbes away through antibiotic use, acid blockers, low-fiber diets, and pesticide exposure, and what can happen when the body loses them.   The two get into how specific strains like Akkermansia muciniphila, F. prausnitzii, and Roseburia lower inflammation, support metabolic health, and even help the body produce its own GLP-1. They also cover emerging research on engraftment and human-donor-derived probiotics designed to establish themselves in the gut rather than simply pass through, plus why that distinction may matter for long-term health.   Dr. Druz and Dr. Coetzee close on one of the more striking parts of the conversation. Biological age and chronological age can be pulled apart, depending on what you do. A supercentenarian case study and a mouse microbiome transplant experiment point to the same conclusion. Gut bacteria are one of the most direct levers available for real longevity and healthspan.   If gut health and aging have felt disconnected until now, this conversation on keystone microbes offers a new way to think about the connection.   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 The MMs of Functional and Integrative Medicine 02:04 Dr. Oscar Coetzee's Path Into Microbiome Research 07:05 How Modern Life Damages the Gut Microbiome 10:34 Fiber Deficiency and Glyphosate Effects on Gut Bacteria 13:38 What Makes a Bacterium a Keystone Strain 17:30 Akkermansia and Natural GLP-1 Production 21:41 Roseburia and Its Role in Reducing Inflammation 26:27 How Keystone Microbes Crowd Out Harmful Bacteria 28:54 Why Traditional Probiotics Fall Short 32:27 Stool Testing and the Keystone Strain Protocol 44:07 Supercentenarians and the Longevity Microbiome Connection 49:09 The Mouse Study That Reversed Biological Aging 50:09 Microbial Ecosystem Therapeutics Explained 54:25 Gut Bacteria's Link to Skin Health and Mood   Links: Schedule a Discovery Call Access Courses and Events Get Heartwell Toolkits Schedule a Business Meeting Connect with Dr. Regina Druz: Visit the Holistic Heart Centers website Follow Holistic Heart Centers on Facebook Follow Holistic Heart Centers on X Subscribe to Dr. Regina on YouTube Follow Dr. Regina on Instagram Follow Dr. Regina on TikTok     Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

  6. Jun 25

    From Blockages to Big Data: Redefining Cardiovascular Prevention with AI and Policy with Dr. Yele Aluko, Interventional Cardiologist

    The healthcare system was built around the wrong priority: treating sickness instead of preventing it. That single insight changed Dr. Yele Aluko’s entire career.   Dr. Regina Druz welcomes him to Own Your Heart Health to talk about AI in healthcare and what it takes to build cardiovascular prevention into the system. Dr. Aluko spent decades opening blocked arteries and replacing heart valves before a business school class helped him see the bigger problem. The system was not broken. It was designed around illness instead of prevention. That realization pushed him out of the cath lab and into healthcare consulting, where he works to shift the industry toward keeping people well before they ever need a procedure.   Dr. Aluko explains how big data and healthcare technology are starting to predict illness before symptoms appear and personalize treatment around the patient instead of the disease. He breaks down the lifestyle fundamentals that protect your heart for decades, why risk personalization beats generic population data, and how AI in healthcare can help you walk into appointments more prepared and ask sharper questions.   Dr. Druz and Dr. Aluko also digs into systemic health solutions like indoor air regulation and social deprivation scoring, the health policy gaps still holding back cardiovascular innovation, and what data-driven health could look like once prevention finally takes priority over crisis care.   This episode lays out a clear picture of preventive medicine and the future of cardiology, built around the idea that healthcare should keep you out of the hospital, not just treat you once you are in it.   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Why a Cardiologist Left the Cath Lab to Fix a Broken System 03:39 How the Healthcare System Was Built for Sickness, Not Prevention 07:47 Health Policy, Social Determinants, and Why Reform Has Stalled 12:13 The Metabolic Storm That Silently Builds for Decades 14:29 What Young People Need to Know About Heart Disease Risk 19:23 The Top Three Lifestyle Habits That Protect Your Heart 21:27 Risk Personalization and the Cholesterol Medication Decision 25:28 AI in Healthcare: Will It Close the Gap or Widen It? 32:41 How to Use AI Tools Safely Before Your Next Doctor Visit 37:55 Environmental Toxins, Indoor Air Quality, and Your Heart Health 45:37 The Future of Cardiology: Prediction, Prevention, and Personalized Care   Links: Schedule a Discovery Call Access Courses and Events Get Heartwell Toolkits Schedule a Business Meeting   Connect with Dr. Regina Druz: Visit the Holistic Heart Centers website Follow Holistic Heart Centers on Facebook Follow Holistic Heart Centers on X Subscribe to Dr. Regina on YouTube Follow Dr. Regina on Instagram Follow Dr. Regina on TikTok Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

  7. Jun 11

    How A Vaccine Against Vascular Aging Could Prevent Heart Attacks and Stroke

    What if the cells quietly destroying your blood vessels from the inside could be targeted, cleared, and replaced?   Dr. David Scieszka, CEO of Vertical Longevity Pharma, joins Dr. Regina Druz to talk about a vaccine in development that targets senescent endothelial cells, the zombie cells that make blood vessels leaky, drive systemic inflammation, and sit at the center of the aging process itself.   This is not another conversation about cholesterol or statins. It is about going upstream, to the vascular aging happening at the cellular level that most cardiovascular approaches never touch.   In preclinical studies, clearing these senescent cells from the endothelium produced therapeutic benefits across every organ and system researchers were able to monitor. Heart function. Pulmonary function. Metabolic markers.The vaccine is designed to work by retraining the immune system to clear these cells the way it did at a younger age.   Dr. Druz, author of the upcoming book Longevity Switches, connects this science to what she sees in her cardiology practice every day and what she believes is one of the most significant frontiers in cardiovascular health.   If you want to understand where the science of aging and heart disease is actually heading, this episode is where to start.   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Senescent Cells and the Vaccine Targeting Atherosclerosis 03:17 From Military Psyops to Longevity Research 10:25 Why Aging Is Vascular 13:37 Zombie Cells and the Endothelium Explained 16:44 How the Vaccine Trains the Immune System 25:37 Organ Rejuvenation Results in Mouse Studies 31:42 Plaque Regression Data and What It Means 35:28 Preventing Atherosclerosis in High-Risk Patients 38:33 Metabolic Disease and Diabetes Markers 41:52 Future Indications and Global Access 44:35 Primate Studies and the Path to Human Trials Links: Schedule a Discovery Call Access Courses and Events Get Heartwell Toolkits Schedule a Business Meeting Connect with Dr. Regina Druz: Visit the Holistic Heart Centers website Follow Holistic Heart Centers on Facebook Follow Holistic Heart Centers on X Subscribe to Dr. Regina on YouTube Follow Dr. Regina on Instagram Follow Dr. Regina on TikTok Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

  8. May 21

    Longevity Secrets Revealed: Mediterranean Diet Surprises with Dr. Artemis Morris

    The Mediterranean diet is one of the most studied diets in the world, and the modern version may be missing one of its most important pieces.   What if the version you know leaves out part of what made it work in the first place? On Own Your Heart Health, host Dr. Regina Druz sits down with Dr. Artemis Morris, naturopathic physician, acupuncturist, and co-author of Anti-Inflammatory Diet for Dummies, to explore what the traditional Mediterranean diet looked like before it became a modern wellness label. Dr. Morris grew up in a Mediterranean household with Cretan family roots, conducted an ethnographic study in Crete, and interviewed people who lived during the era of the original Seven Countries Study. What she found adds a deeper layer to the way most people understand this diet.   The missing piece is wild edible plants. Dandelion greens, chicory, wild amaranth, and other foraged greens were part of the traditional diet and, according to Dr. Morris, contain higher antioxidant and polyphenol content than cultivated plants. They were free, local, and woven into everyday eating, as long as they came from clean soil and were not sprayed with toxins. Dr. Morris explains what they are, where people traditionally found them, and how they were prepared with extra virgin olive oil, lemon, and the mineral-rich cooking liquid.   Dr. Morris also takes a closer look at extra virgin olive oil. Dr. Morris makes the case for thinking of it as a nutraceutical with real clinical value, not merely a kitchen staple. You will learn how much she recommends each day, why “cold-pressed” is not the strongest marker of quality, and how to build a three-tier olive oil system at home based on quality, polyphenol content, and use.   If you want to eat in a way that supports heart health and longevity, this episode brings the Mediterranean diet back to its real foundation.   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Introduction to Dr. Artemis Morris and Her Mediterranean Roots 06:55 The Therapeutic Order: Why Naturopathic Medicine Starts with Nutritional Foundation 16:24 Stress, Spirituality, and the Hidden Side of Heart Health 20:06 The Secret of the Traditional Mediterranean Diet: Wild Edible Plants 24:08 What Is an Ethnographic Study and What Did Dr. Morris Find in Crete? 33:13 How to Choose High-Quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil 37:34 The Three-Tier Olive Oil System for Home Use 41:21 Why Eating Patterns and Personalization Matter More Than Specific Foods 46:28 A Practical Mediterranean Diet Checklist for Better Heart Health   Connect with Dr. Artemis Morris: Dr. Morris Olive Oil Resource    Links: Schedule a Discovery Call Access Courses and Events Get Heartwell Toolkits Schedule a Business Meeting   Connect with Dr. Regina Druz: Visit the Holistic Heart Centers website Follow Holistic Heart Centers on Facebook Follow Holistic Heart Centers on X Subscribe to Dr. Regina on YouTube Follow Dr. Regina on Instagram Follow Dr. Regina on TikTok Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

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About

Own your heart health — with clarity, confidence, and science that works. I’m Dr. Regina Druz, Cornell- and Duke-trained cardiologist and a national leader in holistic, root-cause cardiology. This channel cuts through outdated advice to bring you expert insights and actionable strategies to reverse and prevent heart disease — naturally and effectively. You’ll discover: How to lower blood pressure without confusion The truth about cholesterol, statins, and alternatives How metabolic health, hormones, sleep, and stress drive heart disease Lifestyle solutions that fuel longevity, vitality, and freedom from fear Through focused playlists and myth-busting content, you’ll gain the tools to: ✅ Understand your real risks ✅ Take control of your health journey ✅ Live longer, stronger, and better Subscribe today and join a community where your heart health — and your future — are the priority.

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