If someone has had a heart attack, the standard protocol today is simple. You go on a statin.

The bigger question is this: Why did the heart attack happen in the first place?

Statins are often used as a stopgap, meant to help manage cholesterol and inflammation in the arteries. But what they don’t do is address the underlying terrain that led to the problem.

And that’s where many people get stuck.

Don’t let the prescription be the end of the conversation. Use it as a moment to ask the most important question in medicine: What actually caused the problem in the first place?

Because that’s where real prevention begins.