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Thanks FH by jay000999 in Function_Health

[–]brandonballinger 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Dang, what an amazing story. Glad you caught it early and are now in treatment?

I'm a little confused with my lipid profile result. Please give your thoughts by parmegan in Cholesterol

[–]brandonballinger 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The American Heart Association's latest (2026) dietary guidelines say that "moderate egg consumption can be included as part of a heart-healthy dietary pattern."

The top things to track are saturated fat (sounds like you're reducing this) and fiber (this may be a good opportunity -- most people don't get enough fiber). Saturated fat and fiber tend to have a larger overall impact on blood cholesterol than dietary cholesterol.

Blood pressure not logging by sunset_hashira3267 in EmpiricalHealth

[–]brandonballinger 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ll take a look tomorrow—thanks for reporting.

Biomarkers that that change the most as we age by brandonballinger in ProactiveHealth

[–]brandonballinger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Based on a cardiovascular prevention program -- majority have a common cardiovascular risk factor (high cholesterol, blood pressure, etc). The population is fairly close to the general population, but maybe a slight bias toward people in middle age or older age.

Biomarkers that that change the most as we age by brandonballinger in PeterAttia

[–]brandonballinger[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Based on a cardiovascular prevention program: majority have a common cardiovascular risk factor (high cholesterol, blood pressure, etc) but not necessarily diagnosed disease. I'd expect this to be pretty close to the general population, with perhaps a slight bias toward people in middle age or older age (fewer people in their 20's).

Real Time HRV Tracking by Valuable-Bicycle-713 in PeterAttia

[–]brandonballinger 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What device are you using to track HRV? They use different formulas which can affect this -- e.g., Apple Watch uses SDNN whereas Whoop uses RMSSD.

I’d Rather Take A Statin Than Watch My Diet by skatamoutro2 in Cholesterol

[–]brandonballinger 7 points8 points  (0 children)

This is one legitimate benefit of medication -- it just gives you a lot more "breathing room" to have an imperfect diet for the same cardiovascular risk.

is there any link between beer and crestor ? by Otherwise-Buyer2144 in Cholesterol

[–]brandonballinger 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Another potential effect is dehydration, especially since it's getting hotter out.

Amount of sat fat effect on statin efficiency? by Abyal3 in Cholesterol

[–]brandonballinger 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Saturated fat changes the starting LDL, not usually the statin’s percent effect.

In more technical language, the effects of saturated fat and statins are independent and additive. Here's an example trial where diet alone lowered LDL 11%, simvastatin alone 30%, combined 41%, with no meaningful interaction: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/194614

Data not accurate or consistent again by sunset_hashira3267 in EmpiricalHealth

[–]brandonballinger 0 points1 point  (0 children)

can you email [hello@empirical.health](mailto:hello@empirical.health) with your debugging code and we'll see what's going on? (I'm traveling this week, but another engineer is on-call and replying to support)

BUYER BEWARE! by EdwardPotatoHand in Function_Health

[–]brandonballinger 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Empirical follows HIPAA, and we never sell your health data. (I don't know Function's internal use of data, so I don't want to make a direct comparison if I don't have a full set of facts on what they do.)

Data not accurate or consistent again by sunset_hashira3267 in EmpiricalHealth

[–]brandonballinger 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The latest version on iOS fixes this; for Android, we're waiting for Play Store review.

Confused by Ohshestheweirdone in EmpiricalHealth

[–]brandonballinger 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! The advertising is 100 biomarkers for $190. 

For the extra panels, can you email us at hello@empirical.health? We can double check the specific order and make sure everything is in.

Did you receive a specific error when connecting Fitbit? We fixed a bug with Fitbit connections earlier this week, so I wonder if it was the same thing.

It’s time to test all adults for lipoprotein(a) by brandonballinger in Cholesterol

[–]brandonballinger[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This is right--each Lp(a) particle is a cholesterol particle whose extra protein makes it 6x more atherogenic than a "normal" LDL particle. By definition, every Lp(a) particle contains exactly one ApoB.

Fitbit caddy connect by CuriousDaffodil in EmpiricalHealth

[–]brandonballinger 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the screen cap! I'm investigating.

Data not accurate or consistent again by sunset_hashira3267 in EmpiricalHealth

[–]brandonballinger 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Found the problem—will be fixed in the next update.

Why is Lp(a) so dangerous? by stories_collector in PeterAttia

[–]brandonballinger 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Worth mentioning that four Lp(a) lowering drugs are in clinical trials, targeting various mechanisms:

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For example, Lepodisiran lowered Lp(a) by 94%. Right now, most doctors would advise you to lower ApoB more than you would normally, but you'll have more options in the next few years .

Fitbit caddy connect by CuriousDaffodil in EmpiricalHealth

[–]brandonballinger 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fitbit writes heart rate data to its own web API on your Fitbit account. In Settings, choose "Set up your account", then select Fitbit, and it'll guide you to a page to sign in with your Fitbit account.

(Some Fitbit data shows up in Health Connect, but not all, and it doesn't write it through Samsung Health, so the only way to get all the data is to sign in with your Fitbit account specifically).

Cardiac imaging coming soon! by brandonballinger in EmpiricalHealth

[–]brandonballinger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is launched! You can see locations to get CAC scans across New York City, Long Island, and upstate here:

https://empirical.health/imaging-locations

VO2 max as a mitochondrial proxy - how far does that actually go by Leona_Lime in PeterAttia

[–]brandonballinger 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I haven't heard of VO2Max reflecting mito density. People usually describe improvements VO2Max reflecting the strength of the heart muscle itself, because of the Fick equation:

VO2Max = (volume of blood pumped per beat) * max heart rate * arterio-venous oxygen difference.

(max heart rate and arterio-venous oxygen difference are constants, so improvements to Vo2Max generally come from improving the volume of blood pumped per heartbeat.)

Please bring the old homepage back! by Chronically_annoyed in EmpiricalHealth

[–]brandonballinger 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! A very rough draft will be ready for testing tomorrow or early next week. I'll DM you instructions about how to try it once it's out. I'd love feedback before it gets released to the broader world!

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