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Heart Smart: A Cardiologist's 5-Step Plan for Detecting, Preventing, and Even Reversing Heart Disease
Price:$18.96
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| ISBN |
0471746924 |
| Publication Date |
2006-01-30 |
| Number Of Pages |
272 |
| Publisher |
Wiley |
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Customers Reviews
2009-09-19
LIFE-SAVING Information
I am going to keep this review short, simple and to the point.
FORGET the antiquated "cholesterol test" that most doctors use today (that only look at TOTAL, LDL, HDL cholesterols and triglycerides). This "ancient" test does NOT tell you what you REALLY need to know.
"Heart Smart" contains information about the MANY different risk factors for heart attacks and strokes.
Few people (including most Internists / General Practitioners, and many Cardiologists) know too little or nothing at all about these risk factors.
You or a loved one could die from or suffer an incapacitating heart attack or stroke that could have been prevented with early detection of these risk factors.
Read "Heart Smart", get ALL of the tests (can be done easily) and know for certain what your risk factor(s) are for heart attack / stroke.
If you choose to ignore the information in this book, you do so at your own risk, and will have only yourself to blame if you suffer a heart attack or stroke...IF you live through it!!
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2009-09-05
Some useful information, some less so. Deserves equal consideration with the current best-sellers on CVD.
Having read the books by Ignarro, Esselstyne (currently the best-seller), and Sinatra (not Frank), and bogging down a bit in Ornish's lengthy precedent (I'm over half way through), I decided to read DeVane's book. In some ways, it's the most practical and informative, enlightening the reader about all of the latest diagnostic tests and devices as well as the advantages and disadvantages of various drugs to "modify" cholesterol levels (he's careful to distinguish among the three cholesterol types as well as the medications themselves, since a statin drug, while effective at lowering bad cholesterol, is considerably less so at raising good cholesterol, where niacin suddenly becomes the weapon of choice).
I say "weapon" because DeVane's approach is the most aggressive of the five books, at times the most alarmist. He starts you off with a heart attack or stroke, counting the precious seconds elapsing before the ambulance or defibrillator arrive as meanwhile the muscles of the heart and/or cells of the brain die or suffer irreparable injury. It's a quick attention-getter, and not a little scary. But of the five books, he's the most up-to-date with a lot of information about testing, pros and cons, new mechanical devices for accomplishing such testing and the ups and downs and hows of each.
In the last quarter of the book, a more human voice begins to emerge from the pages, as the author talks about his father's highly premature death from a heart attack and proceeds, like the other books, with his list of recommendations. Here's where one book may be more advisable than five for the reader who wishes to take proactive measures whether as a preventive measure or therapeutic one. All of these author-doctors agree on the main culprits (saturated fats) and the best defense (omega-3 fatty acids and exercise), but the discrepancies among the five when it comes to the details can be maddening. Whereas Esselstyne appears to loathe (to put it mildly) all oils--above all, fish oil (merely more animal fat)--DeVane can't get enough of it, and would have you slather your insides with it. Whereas Ignarro prescribes Vitamin E as one of his 7 essential defenses/cures (L-Arginnine being the most important), DeVane says don't bother: no evidence whatsoever than Vitamin E (as a supplement) ever helped anyone with a heart condition and, in fact, may even have harmed some misled patients. Whereas DeVane praises nuts (and, above all, peanuts), Esselstyne appears to condemn them as so much solidified fatty food, certainly no cure for out-of-whack cholesterol levels (I have a hunch which of the two authors would be endorsed by Jimmy Carter).
All of the books have their strengths and weaknesses. Ornish's can be recommended for its comprehensive approach, not excessively focused on the physical at the expense of the personal, human and spiritual. DeVane's is closest to the recommendations and practices of the A.M.A. and other "official," recognized heart-healthy agencies.
If there's a problem with medical books in general it's that, given the moment-by-moment permutations of actual experience, they're dated the moment they've been published (talk to a med student about the usefulness and street value of last year's med text), but the author practically feels compelled (even if unconsciously) to embrace his positions as stated in the book regardless. The phenomenon is especially true of "political books"--for example, written discourse that is pro or con Obama and National Health Care reform. Yet some crusader comes on another news show condemning the President for not bringing us the program for which the majority of Americans voted him into office--and the author (ANY author), always in full view of his publisher, is forced to tunnel-vision the issue because that's what his own written words, his calcified language, rather than his living thoughts, has told him is "the truth." The increased pressure on authors to "sell" their books--now a public relations requirement--has made matters worse than ever (I think we began to see the deleterious effects of the "new media" beginning with once-respected scientists/experts-turned-book-hustlers such as Linus Pauling and Adele Davis).
So some of DeVane's recommendations are bound to sound out-of-date just as some others will revise the dated pronouncements of other currently trendy heart savants. Who are you going to believe? The problem must be especially troublesome to those who don't understand science--or religion, or theology and faith. All of the foregoing are frequently seen as "absolutes"--or as fields of reference capable of yielding authoritative yes or no, black and white answers. (Yeah, sure. Make room for Falwell, then Glen Beck, then the next loony or, if we're lucky, at least a well-intentioned Wizard of Oz.) By contrast, DeVane encourages the reader to be aggressive and pro-active, demanding an initial program of cholesterol testing every other week. (Now if only the cardiologists and G.P.s would be so cooperative.)
But this is America--a free country, even if we're currently behind in terms of health care (and a healthy population). And you're free to read the various remedies, consolidate the ones offered in various best-selling books on Amazon, or hitch your wagon to just one of them and ride it all the way. (We try to be rational but, in the end, make a Kierkegardian leap of faith or, as is more often the case, let events transpire and hope for the best, since in the late stage of an illness that we may not even have realized we had until those critical hours, few of us will be clear-headed enough to decide on what might strike us as the best course of action.) All we can pray for at that point is an informed and competent, caring physician (along with a better national health care program). Still, as DeVane warns at the end of his book, he's only one physician; the other one is necessarily the reader. Better to keep that latter physician clearly in focus, assisted by books such as this, rather than become sidetracked by a political debate that shouldn't even be one.
[Not a popular review, I see. As I said, it's a free country, but whatever your opinions, I hope you read the book. In a matter this serious, knowledge counts far more than personal likes and dislikes.]
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2009-02-11
Excellent Source of Vital Information
This book breaks down the causes of cardio-vascular disease, the treatments including tests, drugs and alternative supplements and foods. Easy to understand even without prior knowledge of cardiology and pathology. I highly recommend this book to anyone serious about avoiding the development of cardiovascular disease, reducing the damage of it or even reversing it.
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2007-01-10
A Smart Book for Everyone
A Cardiologist writes this book in lay-man's terms. It is well-written at an appropriate level for a reasonably intelligent person. Dr. DeVane explains concepts well, makes the topic interesting and includes new advances. His holistic approach is practical and easy to read. I buy this book frequently and give it for birthday and Christmas gift giving.
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2006-04-13
GREAT BOOK AND A GREAT READ!!
This is the best book I've read that covers heart disease detection, prevention, and reversal PERIOD. A mandatory read if you have heart disease in your family!! I've read many of these types of books because I have heart disease in my family and have been dealing with genetic high cholesterol my whole life. Everything you need to know about heart disease in one book...it's like a complete handbook on heart disease.
The first part deals with what it is actually like to have a heart attack and what to do to stay alive...this is worth the price of the book alone. The author believes that absolutely NO ONE should ever have a heart attack much less die from one with a little proactive work from you and your doctor.
The book outlines all the various ways to properly test the likelihood of heart disease (just one example: Don't just take a cholesterol and stress test; but actually testing the size of your body's cholesterol may be more valuable to know since you can have a heart attack with as little as 30% blockage and traditional stress test only detects blockage of 70% or greater) This book is absolutely full of this type of useful information which can keep you around for a very long time.
Also, I really liked the way this book has all the up-to-date medial detection and medical treatment technology and goes way beyond the basic stuff you see in all the other medical publications (Details the different types of cholesterol tests, stress tests, heart scan technology, etc.). Also runs through the good points and bad points from a cardiologist standpoint of the more popular diets that people use (instead of just singling out fat as the culprit like every other medical publication.)
This book is technical but simple for the lay person to understand because of the easy explanations Dr. Devane uses. The book gives you today's most up to date tools to PROPERLY detect and reverse heart disease. Just knowing all the facts that are out there makes it easier to motivate yourself to take control and responsibility over making proper decisions if you or someone you love has to deal with heart disease.
GREAT BOOK AND A GREAT READ!!
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What are the pros and cons of celebs low-carb diets?Despite the fact that nutritionists and sport physiologists dispute about the good of a low-carb diet, its popularity is rising.
Low-carb diet supporters consider that insulin is a favorable hormone for fat formation. And as far as carbohydrates promote maximal insulin release, one should limit his carbohydrate use if he wants to decrease fat content in the organism.
So, today a great number of celebrities prefer such diets. Here is the list of some celebs low-carb diets.
 Sarah Michelle Gellar is a fan of quick slimming. Her favorite diet is based on cabbage. She eats cabbage soup with fruits, vegetables, fish and chicken. They say one can lose near 4.5 kilos per week because soup fills the stomach and consequently satisfies hunger. It is considered that cabbage decreases fat.
Pros:
+ one can eat dietary products as much as he wishes
+ the diet is very effective
+ it can be used as the body-cleaning
Cons:
- as soon as you begin to keep you usual diet you’ll put on weight.
- this diet needs great willpower
- to much vegetables can make damage to the intestine
- the diet is badly balanced
Kylie Minogue prefers grapefruit diet. The adherents of this diet eat a half of a grapefruit before every meal. Grapefruit contains ferments which dissolve fat and moreover it reduces the calorie use up to 800 a day. One can lose 10 kilos per 3 weeks.
Pros:
+ grapefruit is rich in vitamin C and carotene
Cons:
- the diet can damage childbearing function
- it can cause diarrhea
- the lost kilos are not fat, but muscles
- the diet is to low-calorie that it will make you feel tired and irritable
But if one adds grapefruits to the usual diet he can lose some kilos.
Jennifer Aniston announces: the more fats you eat the slimmer you are. So she loses her weight with coconut diet. It allows eating coconut butter, cod liver butter, and also such traditional fats as egg yolk, fat meat and lard.
Pros:
+ this diet is very effective
+ it improves one’s immune system
Cons:
- saturated fat is bad for heart
Rene Zelveger, Mini Driver, Jerry Halliwel are on Atkins diet. It contains many proteins and little carbs. The theory is to decrease the carbohydrate use in order to lose fat.
Pros:
+ The diet is too effective
+ it does for meat fans
Cons:
- a great number of proteins can lead to heart and kidney threat
- this diet is contra-indicated to diabetics.
Well, none other than Hollywood stars know how to rid of excess weight. But they can also mistaken and ruin their health. Having decided to begin a celebs low-carb diet you should remember that a great deal of fast-acting diets help to lose weight at the expense of liquid loss. As soon as you turn back to the former meals you weight will come back. |
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