Living

I remember learning about "eustress versus distress" in middle school, and since then, I have easily been able to differentiate between the 2 in my own life. "Eustress" is the...

The mind is a powerful thing. We use it to think, make decisions, learn, and even recall memories. I never thought my mind would be affected by having not 1...

Several years after my myocardial infarction (heart attack) in 2001, I was diagnosed with high cholesterol and had high triglycerides. My primary care doctor (PCP) put me on Lipitor for...

Living with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) hasn’t stopped me from exploring the world, but it has made me more intentional about how I travel. Over the years, I’ve learned how to...

When I was diagnosed with a form of heart disease called dilated cardiomyopathy, I never thought it would change the way I ate. It was a shock at first when...

In 2014, I was diagnosed with a form of heart disease called dilated cardiomyopathy. This is when the ventricles become enlarged and can no longer pump blood efficiently. Before the...

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a genetic disorder that causes abnormally high levels of cholesterol. This elevation significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, and strokes. Most people who...

It happened about a year and a half after my first one. Thankfully (?), I had the experience to know what was happening, so it didn’t turn into a massive...

When I was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy in 2014, I didn’t know my life would change so drastically. The impact it has had on my life is beyond belief —...

On the outside, I look like a healthy, 30-something-year-old — fit, energetic, active. But on the inside, there’s a constant, invisible weight I carry. Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) isn’t something people...

There are many misconceptions about heart disease, but the fact of the matter is it can be an invisible disease — meaning that we don’t look sick, and most of...

When I had a stroke and was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, I didn’t know what kind of twists and turns I would have to go through. When I had the...

Most people think of cholesterol as a number they can change with diet or exercise, but those of us with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) know it’s not so simple. This genetic...

Statins are a type of medicine often prescribed to treat high cholesterol. They can lower cholesterol and also help prevent serious health events like heart attack and stroke. However, some...

Statins are a class of drug often prescribed to treat cardiovascular conditions like high cholesterol. Sometimes healthcare providers also prescribe them to help prevent heart attack and stroke in people...

When I was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy after suffering a stroke, I thought it was because I was pushing myself too hard. I used to compete in fitness competitions, and...

When I was diagnosed with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), it was a lot to take in. Knowing I had a genetic condition that put me at high risk for heart disease...

Receiving a diagnosis can be shocking and very difficult to deal with. Like most people, we all have plans and goals that we want to reach and are currently working...

Days after my sister was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), my mother, now realizing that our family had genetic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, took me in to be checked as well. During...

I was first diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in September of 2013 at the age 14, during my first month of high school. The only reason I was even diagnosed...