Meet Michael Twyman

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Michael Twyman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Michael , so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

I enjoy teaching patients how their cardiovascular system works so they can be empowered to lower their risk of having a heart attack. I was trained as invasive cardiologist and treated many heart attacks in my career. I felt we were waiting too long to help people so I went down the rabbit hole of learning more about vascular biology and lipoprotein metabolism. I was looking for the root causes of vascular disease. I did not learn this information in my traditional training so I had to seek it out with mentors in the Functional Medicine and Quantum Biology fields. I now have many more tools at my disposal to help patients stop atherosclerosis from progressing to the point where they end up in a cath lab and are getting a procedure done on a severely stenosed artery.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I work with motivated patients from all over the country who come to my practice (Apollo Cardiology) in St Louis, MO. They come to have non-invasive testing done to assess the health of their arteries and cardiovascular systems. We use state of the art testing equipment to assess the endothelial function of the arteries. Endothelial dysfunction is the first marker of vascular damage and it precedes plaque formation sometimes by decades. If you want to avoid a heart attack, then you need a healthy endothelium. We also obtain advanced cardiovascular biomarkers. This is more in depth than a “traditional” lipid panel. We assess lipoproteins, markers of inflammation and oxidative stress, genetics, metabolic markers, hormones, and markers that effect the availability of nitric oxide. We provide a plan to optimize your diet, exercise, stress management, and sleep (the biggest level effecting your health that is often neglected).

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1) Staying curious. Being a lifelong learner. Diving down rabbit holes to learn more deeply about topics

2) Focusing on recovery. We need to optimize our mitochondrial function so we have the energy to serve others. Optimizing sleep is critical

3) Building a team to help with your mission. Leading them by example. Having core values that act as your North star

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

The constraint that I have more demand for my services than I will be able to provide. I see patients 1:1 in my office in St Louis for their initial visit. The followup visit can be telemedicine if desired by the patient if they live out of town. My practice launched in August 2019. It was a small team of myself and my MA/Office Manager that built up the practice in the first 3 years. We have added another MA/Front Desk team member to help with the load. I have been spreading the message about heart attack prevention via social media content and podcast interviews. Some of my podcasts have over 30,000 views! We are getting great feedback from the content and podcasts and many people want to work with us to have their cardiovascular systems checked out. Sometime in 2024 I will have to close my practice to 1:1 consults and will have to pivot to an option where I offer more educational resources for people to be able to empower themselves to take control of their health with the help of their local doctors

Contact Info:

• Website: https://drtwyman.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtwyman/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drtwyman/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@drtwyman