Nick NorwitzMD PhD, Oxford-Harvard | Metabolic Health Educator | “Stay Curious”

How to Beat Lp(a): Cardiology’s New Voldemort

2 Apr 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:22

In this excerpt from Nick Norwitz’s YouTube video, the presenter explains that elevated lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) is a powerful, genetically determined risk factor for cardiovascular disease, comparable to a “Voldemort” in cardiology because it is hard to treat and can raise heart‑attack risk by 200‑300%. He reveals a largely under‑discussed strategy: reducing visceral (abdominal) fat and improving the waist‑to‑hip ratio can effectively neutralize the added risk from high Lp(a). Human data show that individuals with low abdominal fat exhibit little or no extra cardiovascular risk even when their Lp(a) levels are high. The mechanism is that Lp(a) amplifies inflammation and metabolic dysfunction; by lowering visceral fat and associated metabolic stress, one blunts this interaction. The speaker uses playful Harry‑Potter metaphors (“Cardio Voldemort”, “Reducio waistleniosa”) to make the point, while a second speaker corrects a spell reference. The core message is that while you cannot change your genes, you can control lifestyle factors—specifically abdominal adiposity—to mitigate genetically driven heart disease risk.

Chapters

"Avada Kedavra!" You can cancel out a major genetic risk factor for heart disease by simply— losing belly fat. But let's back up and introduce a player you may or may not know: Lp. It's basically cardiology's new Voldemort— genetically determined, really hard to treat, and it can increase your risk of a heart attack by 200-300%, which is not ideal. But here's what most people don't know and most cardiologists won't tell you. You can beat Cardio Voldemort. You simply need to reduce your visceral fat, your waist-to-hip ratio as a proxy. Human data show that people with less abdominal fat, a lower waist-to-hip ratio, have little to no added cardiovascular risk even when their Lp is high like mine. Why? Because Lp doesn't act alone. It doesn't act in isolation. It amplifies and interacts with inflammation and metabolic dysfunction. So if you control those, lose visceral fat, abdominal fat, and lower your waist-to-hip ratio, you blunt or neutralize the damage. Basically, you don't control your genes, but you do control your jeans, if you get me. Consider your metabolic spell to protect against Cardio Voldemort: Reducio waistleniosa or something like that.
It's leviosa, not leviosa.
Now we just need to deal with Cardio Umbridge.