Danielle Belardo, MD
@DBelardoMD
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Cardiologist obsessed with prevention & nutrition science
Los Angeles, CA
Joined May 2018
7 months ago I took a giant leap of faith and started my own practice, Precision Preventive Cardiology❤️ . I never thought that in my 30s I would venture out on my own, take risk, start my own practice & leave the traditional healthcare system, but it has been a dream come true🧵
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Heartbroken after seeing a young patient with no medical history, end up with a BIFFL GRADE II dissection of the vertebral artery and subsequent acute PICA infarct immediately after a neck adjustment from the chiropractor. This has to stop. Chiropractors - you HAVE to stop.
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This is chilling. A nurse on the front lines in Chicago tried to wear her own N95 to work while caring for COVID pts (when it wasn’t supplied for her) & she was told by management she would not be allowed to. She quit her job. @DrMarthaGulati .@CMichaelGibson @boback @netta_doc
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I didn’t realize how many fragile Joe Rogan fans follow me on Instagram until I posted this meme I made today 💀
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Carbohydrates are not bad for you. Carbohydrates are not bad for you. Carbohydrates are not bad for you. Carbohydrates are not bad for you. Carbohydrates are not bad for you. Carbohydrates are not bad for you. Carbohydrates are not bad for you. Carbohydrates are not bad for you.
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How is anyone tweeting about anything other than the fact that young doctors and nurses are dying in America because of a failure to provide adequate PPE? How is not every politician, governor, hospital administrator, celebrity, athlete, and news person NOT screaming this?.
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How can we live in a world where it’s legal to perform something with zero evidence for benefit (neck adjustment from a chiro) when there are such incredibly dangerous and life changing risks?. And yet, insurance often covers chiropractic care- but doesn’t cover most dietitians.
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My patient has also so kindly consented to me writing up her case to submit to a peer reviewed journal. I told her we will do everything we can to increase awareness about this egregious and horrible practice, and if we can save even one life, we have accomplished something.
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Sick to my stomach thinking about how unfair this is for my patient. My patient does not work in healthcare, they were looking for help with pain. They trusted a licensed healthcare practitioner to provide care that has more benefit than harm. This is a disgrace.
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You lost weight on keto because you were in a calorie deficit. You lost weight on a plant based diet because you were in a calorie deficit. You lost weight intermittent fasting because you were in a calorie deficit. The magic is not your macro ratio. it’s the calorie deficit.
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Today, for the first time as a cardiologist, I had a patient tell me they need pre op clearance/input from their naturopath before seeing CT surgery for urgent CABG. The naturopath/holistic world has irreparably harmed our patients. And no one is stopping it.
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You lost weight on keto because you were in a calorie deficit. You lost weight on a plant based diet because you were in a calorie deficit. You lost weight intermittent fasting because you were in a calorie deficit. The magic is not your macro ratio. it’s the calorie deficit.
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One of my favorite experiences being a physician is meeting patients >90 years old, and asking them what they believe helped them live so long. My favorite answer was today, when a 98 year old woman answered: dessert, every single day, for her entire life. She never skips 😀🥹.
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Carbohydrates are not bad for you. Carbohydrates are not bad for you. Carbohydrates are not bad for you. Carbohydrates are not bad for you. Carbohydrates are not bad for you. Carbohydrates are not bad for you. Carbohydrates are not bad for you. Carbohydrates are a macronutrient.
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My brilliant med student asked me to explain correlation, causation, confounding &collider bias. I used the following ex… so sharing here in case anyone finds it helpful! . PS -I have learned much from @dnunan79 @Catalogofbias - a great resource for EBM. hopefully he approves😅
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A newly graduated MD just asked me what my #1 piece of advice is for starting intern year tomorrow. And 6 years in a row of my medical training this advice never changed. Listen to the nurses.
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PSA of the day: if the nutrition guru you follow is telling you that fresh fruit has “too much sugar” and you should be CUTTING OUT APPLES to be healthy - absolutely run.
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Today was my career record for de-prescribing supplements: lovely new patient with CAD taking a total of 132 supplements per day(yes you read that right!) thanks to all of the “longevity” experts who love a grift. We replaced them all with $4 rosuvastatin. Wellness is unwell.
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Can every politician stop saying things like “it’s inevitable that healthcare providers will get sick”. It’s NOT actually supposed to be inevitable. It’s actually PREVENTABLE with adequate PPE. Stop replacing healthcare providers and start providing adequate protection instead😔.
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Hot coffee is superior to iced coffee, at all times of year. I will not be taking any comments or questions ✋.
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If your favorite “insert diet here” guru is anti-vax, you should probably be questioning their ability to evaluate science, & think twice about their health/nutrition advice.
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This is her full post. Sent to me by hundreds of concerned and caring nurses around the world 🙏 the least we can do is amplify .
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I’m 34, a cardiologist, and just found out I’m still on my parents/family cell phone plan. I thought I was on my husbands this whole time 🤣. Italians🤷🏼♀️.
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Who wrote this incredible “paper”? Your Public Health Service will not go unnoticed 😂
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Doctors promoting anti-vax disinformation on social media should lose their medical licenses. We are in a pandemic, and there are TOO many.
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If your patient is admitted to the hospital, and they live alone, don’t forget to ask them if they have any pets/anyone to look after their animals. This is a huge source of stress for sick patients, who love their animal companions 🙏.
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Countless people in medicine DMed me today that they receive death threats/online harassment regularly, for promoting masks/vaccines/ public health advice. Why isn’t there national legislation to protect healthcare workers. otherwise who is going to keep fighting misinformation?.
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Someone told me I’ve been tweeting too much about COVID, the importance of social distancing and our need for PPE. Public service announcement: all of my social media will continuously cover these 3 topics for the foreseeable future. Please feel free to hit the unfollow ❤️.
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Philly is doing the MOST right now🤣 Twerking USPS has me sent🤣.Everyone can feel a new start coming!
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It would be nice if all healthcare organizations for nurses, residents, fellows and all providers could follow in AAEMs supportive footsteps. @choo_ek @DrJenGunter @medicalaxioms
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One LAST very important update to this thread: official statement from the Joint Commission just released! 👏
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I’ve received 7 emails today, from people who address me as “Danielle”, but address the male physicians in the SAME email as “Doctor”. I don’t know how anyone can think that 4 years of medical school gives men and women different titles. I earned my MD.
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Amazing! The Joint Commission is supporting healthcare providers in using their own N95s when not provided!!
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Why I’m the most disliked vegan doctor, by vegans. Intellectual honesty doesn’t always make you popular. A thread.
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First day providing medical aid at the Poland-Ukraine border for so many brave refugees, and our volunteer team happens to be all women. For anyone that says women are weak, I beg to differ. If women ran the world, we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.
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I remember during training when I tried to “not stick out” as a female physician in a male dominated specialty, would throw my hair in a bun and hide under baggy scrubs. Now as an attending I’ve dropped the white coat and wear jumpsuits because…why not 💁🏼♀️ Should have all along😊
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Alright maybe an unpopular take but, sometimes I think people spend too much time hating on “pharma” and not enough time hating on insurance companies who are robbing our patients of every penny and won’t pay for life saving medications 🤷🏼♀️.
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Was just consulted on a 33 yo w/ COVID myocarditis. Not vaccinated🥺. Seeing someone this sick my age breaks my heart💔. If anyone reading this is still contemplating getting vaccinated, this might be your sign🙏. Talk to a healthcare provider you trust, it might save your life.
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All I want for Christmas is an intramuscular injection of a COVID vaccine.
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Today I cried for the first time since #COVID19 outbreak started, because as a physician during these times, I recognize it will be a while before I can see my niece with Leukemia or my parents who are 70 again. Life has changed so fast.
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Especially when we know what has worked to prevent transmission to 42,000 HCPs in China.
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The #1 reason I see patients under 30 with arrhythmia is because they started taking herbals/supplements they heard from “insert podcast here”. Guess what happens when we stop the supplements? It goes away!. Maybe it’s a SoCal thing, but sadly I think the problem is growing….
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Congress got the COVID vaccine before thousands of resident physicians, nurses, attending physicians, hospital staff. They can technically do their job on Zoom. We can’t.
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How did everyone find out that us doctors are all bought out by “big mask”?
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Most underrated, anti-aging, fountain of youth, “biohack” that bro science won’t tell you:. ➡️Sunscreen. All the time. The second you get up. Every day. All year long. Oh and it prevents skin cancer too. You’re welcome 🥰.
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Celebrating the almost 1 year anniversary of #medbikini with a Memorial Day Weekend Bikini pic 💁🏼♀️. Remember when a vascular surgery research paper said that physicians shouldn’t post pictures in bikinis on social media because it’s “unprofessional”. LOL. Happy MDW weekend😎
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So we learn in medical school that buying “detoxes” aren’t a thing. But then you can become a doctor at Cleveland clinic and sell them anyway. So this is medicine in the US.
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A lovely patient of mine has been told her chest tightness was anxiety for 3 years. today her CCTA showed 3VD. Listen to women 🥺🙏.@DrMarthaGulati.
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In March, when I was volunteering at the Ukraine-Poland border, I met a brave young Ukrainian girl who I was able to provide medical care. I never thought I would hear from her again. She found my email and told me she now wants to be a doctor. This email just stopped time😭🇺🇦
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@kavehkavoosi The patient had no underlying structural or vascular abnormalities. The cause was the cervical manipulation, which has zero evidence of benefit for neck pain compared to standard care - but tons of risk and harm.
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I started plant-based preventative cardiology clinic as a PGY-4, thanks to the support of my PD+APD. In .less than 2 yrs I’ve helped >150 patients transition to a whole food plant based diet, & help reverse their risk factors for CVD. This pt is no exception ❤️ #preventionfirst
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Oh Southern California. What a place to practice. I just made my patients day by telling him he could replace his $700 per month supplement regimen prescribed by a naturopath with. generic atorvastatin 🤗.
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Imagine being a physician/specialist for adults, telling the entire specialty of pediatrics how to do their job. During a pandemic. Adult cardiologist here… that’s not a great idea. Pediatricians are brilliant and deserve respect.
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CAC 1800. LM disease. T2DM. EF 25%. On zero medications, because naturopath says oregano oil is best. The patient is the victim of medical misinformation, and we have no one stopping the holistic world from harming patients over, and over, and over again.
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I just found out that if you hold down 0 on your keyboard you get the ° degree sign. Am I the last person to realize this? What other phone things don’t I know?.
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How pervasive is sexism in medicine today? I asked my female Instagram folllwers: doctors, nurses, NPs, PAs, if I could anonymously share their responses to the question “What has been your experience with sexism in medicine?”. everyone should read every. single. word.
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She was brave🙏 You can find her on social media here:
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The Venn diagram between “seed oils are evil”, “statins are evil”, “sunscreen is evil” “fluoride is evil”, and “vaccines are evil”… is a circle.
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I will spend every waking moment of my career dedicated to taking down pseudoscience and misinformation. When a “plant-based” physician tells my patient with MVD to stop their statin and aspirin, and chew spinach instead of nitro for unstable angina - I have reached my limit.
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Most underrated skill neglected in most of medical training: statistics.
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Think you have it tough on social media? Try being a vegan, who hates pseudoscience, is pro-evidence based medicine, oh and. a female cardiologist 🙃🤷🏼♀️. My DMs all day/all night/all year 🙄. PS: I ❤️vaccines, masks, statins, and kale.
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The first time I ran a code in the ICU, it was the nurse who kept me calm, and helped me bring the patient back to life. (She even whispered in my ear, “I know you can do this”).
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Imagine if everyone just got vaccinated when it came out, misinformation didn’t persist, and this pandemic was actually over? Instead we are on day 9827266219 of this pandemic and people are still talking about treating a virus with anti-parasite meds.
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I don’t tweet about politics often-but my patients who follow me on social media know I’m a Democrat. Woke up to an email from my patient who said he’s taking his wife & 2 adult sons to get vaccinated today & it’s their “patriotic duty” as Republicans. So proud❤️.Vaccines work🇺🇸.
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Today:. Put on my mask.Went to get my flu shot.Then voted for Biden/Harris. Because. science matters.
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Happy to report I woke up today with my new micro chip and I feel like a million bucks ❤️💕 . No side effects from my COVID vaccine besides better phone signal 😉.
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I find it very confusing when a male physician emails me “Hi Danielle” and then proceeds to sign the email “Dr. So and So”. Umm. This happened already twice this am 🧐.
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A patient of mine is deaf & told me since the majority of the world doesn’t sign, it’s been very hard for her to communicate during covid (masks). One of the reasons she hopes everyone gets vaccinated is so the Deaf community can go back to lip reading & communication again 😔🥺.
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My most evergreen tweet.
I didn’t realize how many fragile Joe Rogan fans follow me on Instagram until I posted this meme I made today 💀
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COVID vaccine dose #2 ☑️.Yes that’s Fauci on my shirt and it says vaccinated 😂. Can’t wait to volunteer this week & next week to #vaccinate LA! 🥰
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Tell me you love COVID vaccines without telling me you love COVID vaccines ❤️. #vaccineswork
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In a world where we can send people to the moon, have computers that are cell phones, and have technology that can do more than we ever imagined - HOW can we not be protecting medical providers during a PANDEMIC?.
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An antivax advocate called my office today to report to my partners that they should fire me because I’m “drug pushing vaccines online” and my partner said it made her proud 😂.
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Nothing like getting mansplained about nutrition science when saying “apples don’t cause diabetes” and being told to “be rational”. 👍. It’s 2021. Apples don’t cause diabetes. Carbs aren’t bad for you. And women are allowed to have viewpoints on science.
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Just saw one of my incredible patients, in tears of joy, as she has lost 30+ lbs in 3 months on GLP-1 tx. As a registered dietitian, she KNOWS how to eat healthy, but despite this, has struggled w/ obesity her entire life. Weight loss is more complex than just following a “diet”.
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My badass, very vegan and inspiring mom, just ran her 5th full 26.2 mile marathon today, powered by plants 🥰 she is 71 years young❤️
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What’s the maximum number of supplements you’ve had to wean a patient off of, which had been recommended by an alt health provider? I reached my highest today, and it was 28. 28 supplements. Twenty eight. We’ve replaced them. with a statin. 😀.
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Spotify’s Joe Rogan encouraged "healthy" 21-year-olds not to get a coronavirus vaccine; experts estimate that in order to achieve herd immunity, society may need to get to a critical mass of 70% to 90% of people vaccinated.
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PS: please take note how many doctors and nurses have commented here that their hospital has an identical policy 😳.
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If Biden wins the election, we will finally get to see more of this epic human and I can’t even wait #faucifanclub
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Telling a patients family member that their loved one has died is one of the most exquisite pains I’ve felt as a doctor. And it hurts every time.
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We need to eliminate “pre op clearance” from ALL medical vocabulary. We are not God. We cannot “clear” anyone for surgery. We CAN, after clinical evaluation, provide patients w/ an estimate of perioperative risk, which can be incorporated in shared decision making w/their surgeon.
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People without diabetes- please stop wearing CGMs - and do not send me Peter Attias last podcast as evidence for why - his bio hacking nonsense is not science.
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Ever since I was a med student, any time I‘ve met a 100 yr old patient, I always ask “what’s the secret to living to 100!”. Just saw a cardiology consult for a sweet 100 yr old. When I asked him what his secret is to living to 100 he said:. “I drink orange soda every day.” LOL!.
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My 81 year old patient, now 4 months plant based, lost 22 lbs, dropped 2 of 3 antihypertensives & has more energy. Best part. “I can keep up with my grandkids”. It’s been so rewarding as a physician to see lifestyle modification at ANY age improve my patients quality of life ❤️.
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Rescued Cooper before medical school. He has been through residency, fellowship, and a pandemic. He’s the reason I went vegan. Today he turns 16 ❤️🐶. #AdoptDontShop
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No level of evidence will ever convince me to give up Diet Coke 💁🏼♀️.
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