Hey there — heart disease is still the #1 cause of death in 2025, yet most of us treat our cardiac risk like it’s a software update we can postpone forever. This week brought fresh reminders that the quietest killer is also the most preventable — if you’re willing to look.
— JJ
The 2025 Levels Guide to Cardiac Health Tests Just Dropped
Levels (the CGM + metabolic health company) published a monster 10-minute read that should be mandatory for anyone over 35. Key takeaway: standard cholesterol panels are the 1990s version of heart-risk assessment. The new gold standard stacks multiple markers for a dramatically clearer picture:
ApoB & non-HDL > LDL alone (because particle count matters more than total cholesterol)
Lp(a) — the sneaky genetic lipid that statins barely touch
hs-CRP for low-grade inflammation that quietly corrodes arteries
Fasting insulin + HbA1c as early-warning metabolic chaos detectors
Why this matters to you: catching elevated ApoB or Lp(a) ten years early can literally add a decade (or more) of healthy lifespan. If you’ve only ever gotten a basic lipid panel, you’re flying half-blind.
Bryan Johnson Just Proved N=1 Can Still Move the Needle
The Blueprint guy (now 48 chronological, mid-30s biological) keeps posting monthly data dumps that read like science fiction. Latest flex:
VO2 max of 53.6 (top 1% for 18-year-olds)
Resting HRV consistently >50 ms
Inflammation (hs-CRP) <0.15 mg/L — basically undetectable
Body-fat rebound from a dumb 3% OMAD experiment back to a perfect 6%
His bigger point isn’t “copy my 100-step protocol.” It’s that relentless measurement + rapid iteration turns aging into an engineering problem instead of a mystery. Expensive and obsessive? Yes. Also working.
Peter Attia’s Team Ran the Numbers on What We Actually Die From
TSpoiler: mainstream media is still terrified of the wrong things. Heart disease + cancer = ~56% of U.S. deaths but <7% of mortality-related headlines. Terrorism and homicide get 50x the airtime despite killing orders of magnitude fewer people.
Attia’s own content in 2023? 43% focused on heart disease + cancer — roughly proportional to reality. The takeaway is simple: curate your information diet the same way you (hopefully) curate your actual diet.
Quick Biohack You Can Do Tomorrow
Want a free, zero-cost cardiac risk preview? Order these five blood tests next time you get labs (most are < $150 total out-of-pocket):
ApoB (or non-HDL as backup)
Lp(a) — one-time test, mostly genetic
hs-CRP
Fasting insulin
HbA1c
If any come back outside optimal, you now have years — not months — to course-correct before plaques turn into events.
Your move.
Which marker are you checking first — ApoB, Lp(a), or something else? Hit reply and let me know (or just forward this to the friend who still thinks “total cholesterol under 200” means they’re fine).
Stay curious, Joseph Jilovec
P.S. If you want me to pull the latest studies on lowering Lp(a) naturally (spoiler: lifestyle helps a little, new drugs help a lot), just say the word.