Rigved Tadwalkar, MD

05/01/2026

Our cardiac rehabilitation program was recently recognized as Program of the Year by the California Society of Cardiac Rehabilitation.

Over the past couple of years, the program has undergone remarkable growth, expanding beyond traditional models to deliver more comprehensive and accessible care.

This recognition reflects consistent ex*****on and a team committed to building a program that continues to evolve with patient needs.

04/29/2026

One of the most useful signals for heart health might already be sitting in a test millions of women get every year, and most people never hear about it.

Sometimes the value isn’t in doing more testing, it’s in seeing what’s already there differently.

04/23/2026

Spent time yesterday with the Internal Medicine residents at MLK Community Hospital discussing a contemporary approach to pericardial disease.

We focused on clinical decision-making— from recognizing classic acute presentations to managing recurrent disease and incorporating newer targeted therapies when appropriate.

Training in a safety-net system like this, serving much of the county population, brings a level of complexity and clinical exposure that sharpens judgment early.

Grateful to contribute to resident education and to help advance how we approach pericardial disease in practice.

04/23/2026

Olive oil, legumes, fish, and nuts— the Mediterranean pattern has been around long before it was ever studied 🫒🐟

I talk about this a lot as a cardiologist because it’s one of the few approaches where the outcomes data actually lines up with what patients can sustain.

In my work on the Good Housekeeping Medical Review Board, that’s usually what I pay attention to. This is one of the rare cases where randomized trials have shown meaningful reductions in cardiovascular events:

• ~30% fewer major CV events in PREDIMED 📉♥️
• ~25–30% lower risk in patients with established heart disease in CORDIOPREV🫀

That’s not something you really see in nutrition research 📊

What this adds, which is often missing, is satiety. When meals are structured in a way that people actually feel full (including enough protein), adherence tends to follow.

If you want a more structured way to apply this, this is a solid resource.

https://a.co/d/0ftaxtKP

04/10/2026

Most people don’t realize how simple a calcium scan actually is.

It’s quick, non-invasive, and can give you real insight into your risk before symptoms ever show up.

The biggest barrier isn’t the scan itself, it’s just getting it done!

03/30/2026

Big weekend at . Seeing CHAMPION-AF presented as a late-breaker and led by my colleague, Shephal Doshi MD, as first author was truly special.

It was a privilege to contribute to this study via procedural imaging in the cath lab. This data represents a major step forward in stroke prevention and safety in our a-fib patients, now published in The New England Journal of Medicine🫀

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2517213

College of Cardiology
Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai
Heart Institute

Rigved Tadwalkar, MD, MS, FACC, FACP
Christiane A. Schaeffler MD, MS, FACC
Michael Broukhim, MD, FACC
Jordan Kawano, MD, FACC

03/24/2026

Sedentary lifestyles, everyday food choices, and the routines we fall into over time are quietly putting more strain on our health than we realize. But the solution isn’t perfection, it’s small and consistent changes.

Moving a little more, choosing better when you can, and building sustainable habits all add up. Your heart doesn’t need perfect, it just needs progress.

03/20/2026

Match Day doesn’t always feel the way you thought it would.

If this moment feels exciting, uncertain, or somewhere in between, this is for you.

03/18/2026

The updated cholesterol guidelines have generated a lot of discussion over the past few days, and for good reason.

I spoke with Healthline about what’s changing, and one theme that stands out is how much more intentional our approach to risk has become.

“We’re moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach and toward more individualized risk assessment” - Rigved Tadwalkar, MD of the Pacific Heart Institute

That shift is subtle but important. For a long time, lipid management often centered on a few core numbers and fairly uniform treatment pathways. What we’re seeing now is a more layered approach that brings together clinical risk, imaging, and biomarkers to better understand who is actually at risk.

In practice, that means fewer assumptions and more precision. It also means earlier conversations, and in some cases, earlier intervention.

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/aha-updated-cholesterol-guidelines-early-intervention

The American Heart Association (AHA), American College of Cardiology (ACC), and nine other leading medical organizations have released updated guidelines for cholesterol and lipids, focusing on earlier screening and treatment.

03/14/2026

A small habit at the table may have a bigger impact than many people realize.

“There’s basically a sodium epidemic in this country, along with most western diets, so very few people are immune to the effects of sodium,” Rigved Tadwalkar, MD, of the Pacific Heart Institute, told Prevention Magazine.

In the study highlighted here, researchers followed more than 500,000 adults and found that people who regularly added salt to food that was already prepared had a higher risk of premature death and shorter life expectancy compared with those who rarely added salt. The findings highlight how total sodium exposure, including salt added at the table on top of what is already in packaged or prepared foods, can meaningfully influence long-term cardiovascular health.

https://www.prevention.com/food-nutrition/healthy-eating/a70339227/added-salt-shorter-life-expectancy-study/

You may want to set aside that shaker for your next meal.

03/11/2026

What this conversation is NOT about.

In this clip from my talk at the 13th Annual Women’s Heart Symposium with Have A Heart, Save A Heart, I take a minute to clarify something important. Conversations about environmental exposures and heart health shouldn’t turn into detox culture, food fear, or the idea that we can “cleanse” toxins out of our bodies 🧪

The science here is still evolving, and most exposures are part of everyday life. The discussion is about understanding them, not eliminating entire foods or chasing the latest wellness trend.

And none of this replaces the fundamentals we already know matter for heart health - good nutrition, physical activity, sleep, and managing traditional risk factors.

Thoughts? 🤔