The Heart: The Ultimate Fuel Omnivore

What's Good for the Heart Is Good for the Brain

The four pillars of coronary prevention map directly onto dementia risk reduction through shared vascular mechanisms. Cardiovascular risk factors in midlife predict cognitive decline decades later, making optimal heart health our strongest defence against age-related cognitive impairment and dementia. Read Blog [https://www.vat-trap.com/post/heart-brain-connection]

Measuring Your Blood Pressure At Home

Done well, a week of home readings is more informative than almost anything that can be measured in a single clinic visit. Here is the method I have used, refined over twenty years — and a free calculator that does the averaging for you. Read the full blog and link to a free blood pressure tool here [https://www.vat-trap.com/post/measure-blood-pressure-home-free-app]

The Elephant in the Room

Naked Heart is now hosted by Author Dr Leatham's cardiometabolic health channel launched 1st June 2026 www.vat-trap.com. What better topic than a look at recent ACC/AHA guidelines for cholesterol targets and no note that cardiovascular deaths fell 70–80% in sixty years — one of medicine's greatest triumphs. But progress is now slowing. Visceral fat, not LDL-C, is the upstream driver of the four real epidemic diseases: atrial fibrillation, heart failure, type 2 diabetes, and dementia. The VAT-TRAP four-pillar framework addresses all four simultaneously. Read full article [https://www.vat-trap.com/post/the-elephant-in-the-room]

The Handgrip That Predicts Your Patient's Cardiac Future

Grip strength measurement reveals cardiovascular risk more accurately than traditional markers by reflecting muscle function as endocrine organ. Declining strength drives coronary disease through inflammatory pathways. Progressive resistance training provides powerful cardiovascular protection.

When Your Blood Can’t Breathe: Iron, Anaemia, and the Breathless Heart

When a patient arrives breathless and unable to climb a hill, the instinct is to blame the heart. Sometimes the answer lies in the blood itself. Iron deficiency anaemia reduces oxygen delivery, forces the heart into a hyperdynamic state, and can even produce a murmur over a completely normal valve. Read blog [https://www.scvc.co.uk/vat/iron-deficiency-breathless-heart/]