In this episode, I talk about why I take a statin even though I am in my 30s and have no major risk factors or short-term risk of cardiovascular disease, and why I believe everyone should do the same. The main reason is this: cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the United States. It remains a major cause of death and disability even in my demographic. In one paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, one of the most important medical journals in the world, in 2012, men at age 45 who had risk factors that were all optimal (systolic and diastolic blood pressure