"Knife Down" is what a surgeon says in the OR when she puts her scalpel down so no one gets hurt — and it’s the mission here: put the knife down, long before anyone needs to use it.
Knife Down is a podcast about how to actually invest in your health so you can live longer, stronger, and with less time in doctors’ offices. The core focus is the world’s leading cause of death—cardiovascular disease—and what to do about it before it shows up as a catastrophe.
Hosted by a vascular surgeon on a mission to put herself out of business, the show translates cutting-edge science on prevention, metabolic health, and longevity into real-world strategies you can use in clinic or at your kitchen table. Expect evidence, nuance, and zero wellness hype—plus the occasional dark joke about the state of modern medicine.
Publisher
Lily Johnston, MD MPH
Category
health & fitness · health & fitness · health & fitness
High LDL, Rapid Plaque Progression?! Dave @FeldmanProtocol & I Debate the Data
Dave Feldman came into my studio and we went through Simon Hill's critique of the KETO-CTA data one clip at a time — high LDL, "rapid plaque progression," the retracted paper, the new preprint. We disagree, and we do it honestly. At the center is the new KETO-CTA preprint: 100 lean mass hyper-responders, two coronary scans a year apart, and a real fight over what the numbers mean. Why the first paper was retracted, the measurement "noise floor" that makes one-year plaque data so slippery, wh...
9 Sept 2026
What a Vascular Surgeon Eats—and the Artery Test I’m Repeating
In this comment-response episode, I break down what I eat in a typical day as a vascular surgeon focused on cardiometabolic prevention. I also discuss the reliability of CIMT testing, why I plan to repeat my own scan, and what first drew me to preventive health. More on CIMT—and a conversation with the CardioRisk CEO—coming soon. For educational purposes only; this is not individualized medical advice. Pre-Order my book Disconnected here: https://www.amazon.com/Disconnected-Surgeons-Search-H...
7 Sept 2026
My Arteries Got Older?! A Vascular Surgeon Explains CIMT Results
My CIMT results came back—and one number moved in the wrong direction. In this video, I walk through my own carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) scan, explain arterial age, plaque burden, IMT progression, and measurement variability, and talk about what a “worse” CIMT result actually means. If you’ve had a CIMT test or are considering one for cardiovascular risk assessment, this is a practical look at how to interpret the report without letting one scary-looking number hijack the whole stor...
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