Dr. John Osborne | ClearCardio

In this eye-opening episode, Dr. John Osborne systematically dismantles the entire foundation of modern cardiology testing, revealing why EKGs, stress tests, and even heart catheterizations fail to detect the actual cause of heart attacks and strokes. JD Enright guides viewers through the shocking reality that 70% of heart catheterizations find no blockages despite costing $20,000 and carrying risks of stroke, heart attack, and bleeding complications.

Dr. Osborne explains why he stopped performing heart catheterizations 20 years ago when cardiac CT technology became available, calling it a "virtual autopsy" that can detect plaque invisible to all other methods. The episode reveals that most heart attacks are caused by 20-30% blockages that rupture (plaque rupture), not the 70%+ blockages that traditional tests barely detect. With AI-powered cardiac CT, ClearCardio can identify dangerous "lava" plaque versus stable "cinder cone" plaque, providing the definitive answer: "It's there or it's not there."

"We're not just gonna save your money. We're gonna save your life. There's no equivocation. There's no could be, maybe, possibly, I don't know, not sure about this. We put you in the donut of destiny. It is there or it's not. That is it. One test." — Dr. John Osborne

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Key Takeaways from This Episode:

• Only two kinds of chest pain exist: "stuff that kills you and everything else"—with lethal causes including blockages, aortic aneurysms, fluid around the heart, and pulmonary embolism.

• EKGs detect electrical heart problems but tell you "essentially nothing" about plaque, which causes 99% of heart attacks and strokes—yet electrical issues cause only about 1% of cardiac deaths.

• Stress tests only detect disease when vessels are 70%+ blocked, missing decades of dangerous plaque buildup, and have 25-40% false negative and false positive rates.

• Heart catheterizations find no blockages 70% of the time despite costing $20,000 and carrying risks of stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, and bleeding—plus they can't see plaque in arterial walls.

• 85% of heart attacks are caused by plaque rupture in vessels with only 20-50% narrowing, which traditional testing completely misses since they only detect 70%+ blockages.

• Calcium scores only show "cinder cone" calcified plaque (stable, inactive) but miss the dangerous "lava" lipid-rich plaque that actually causes heart attacks and strokes.

• Up to 30% of people with zero calcium scores still have substantial soft plaque that can kill them, making calcium scoring inadequate for risk assessment.

• Dr. Osborne stopped performing heart catheterizations 20 years ago when 64-slice cardiac CT became available, calling it superior in every way—safer, cheaper, more accurate.

• Modern cardiac CT with AI can detect plaque down to microscopic levels, differentiate dangerous from stable plaque, and provide a "virtual autopsy" showing everything traditional tests miss.

• The entire traditional cardiac workup (EKG, stress test, catheterization) can take weeks to months, cost tens of thousands of dollars, and still miss the actual cause of heart disease.

Resources Mentioned:

• Kardia 6L Device - $129 medical-grade EKG device available on Amazon for detecting heart rhythm problems (electrical issues)

• ClearCardio's 640-Slice Cardiac CT - 10 times more advanced than the original 64-slice technology from 20 years ago

• AI-Powered Plaque Quantification - FDA-approved artificial intelligence that detects plaque invisible to the human eye

• "Donut of Destiny" - ClearCardio's advanced cardiac CT scanner providing definitive plaque detection

• Virtual Autopsy Technology - Three-dimensional cardiac imaging that shows everything inside the chest without invasive procedures

• clearcardio.com - Direct access to advanced cardiac screening without referrals or insurance approval requirements