Reverse Heart Disease Now , livre ebook

Table of Contents
 
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Preface
Dr. Sinatra’s Story
Dr. Roberts’s Story
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Integrate, Not Separate
Think Inflammation, Not Cholesterol
Are You at Risk?
Gender-Specific Issues
You and Your Doctor
 
PART ONE - How We Get Clogged
 
Chapter 1 - Death by Inflammation
 
Cardiovascular System 101
As Goes the Endothelium, So Go You
Silent Inflammation Starts Early
Arterial Hot Spots
The Role of the Immune System
From Inflammation to Plaque
 
Chapter 2 - The Cholesterol Obsession
 
The ABCs of Cholesterol
The Who’s Who of Cholesterol
The Making of a Killer Reputation
The Unmaking of a Killer Reputation
 
Chapter 3 - The “Dirty Dozen” Risk Factors
 
1. Too Much Insulin
2. Toxic Blood
3. Oxidative Stress
4. Poor Bioenergetics
5. The Bacterial Threat
6. Toxic Metals
7. Emotional Stress
8. Gender Factors
9. Trans-Fatty Acids
10. High Blood Pressure
11. Genetics
12. Radiation
 
PART TWO - How to Get Unclogged
Chapter 4 - Tests You Need
 
The Standard Tests
The New Cardiology Tests
 
Chapter 5 - Medication
 
Statin Drugs: Upsides and Downsides
Coumadin
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors
Angiotensin Receptor Blockers
Beta Blockers
Calcium Blockers
Aspirin
Painkillers and Heart Disease
 
Chapter 6 - Supplements
 
Supplement Teamwork: A Misunderstood Principle
Multivitamin/Mineral with Antioxidants
Fish Oil
Magnesium
Nattokinase and Lumbrokinase
L-arginine
Phosphatidylcholine (Essential Phospholipids)
Vitamin C
B Vitamins
Vitamin E
Garlic
Pomegranate Juice
Vitamin K-2
 
Chapter 7 - Supplements
 
Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10)
L-carnitine
D-ribose
 
Chapter 8 - Detox
 
No-Hassle Oral Chelation
The Lowdown on Lead
 
Chapter 9 - The Anti-Inflammatory Diet
 
Introducing the PAM Diet
PAM: The Main Ingredients
Getting On the PAM Program
 
Chapter 10 - Exercise
 
The Big Secret: CoQ10, Magnesium, D-ribose, and L-carnitine
The Bottom Line
 
Chapter 11 - Defusing Stress
 
Laugh More
Give and Receive Affection
Meditation
Meditation Plus
Faith
Magnesium: The Antistress Mineral
Attitude
The American Heart Association Recommendations
 
Chapter 12 - Putting It All Together
 
Does the Integrative Approach Really Work?
Putting Together a Therapeutic Supplement Program
How to Take Supplements
How Can You Tell If the Program Is Working?
How Much Will All This Cost?
Is There a Bare-Bones Supplement Program?
Too Far Gone?
Abnormal Test Results
Heart Attack Prevention
Get the Tests Done
What about the Genetic Factor?
Bringing Down Insulin Levels
What to Do for Thick Blood and Iron Overload
Hormones for Your Heart
Oral Hygiene
Nixing Nanobacteria
 
Epilogue
APPENDIX A - Resources
APPENDIX B - Glycemic Index of Carbohydrates
Selected Scientific References
Index

Text and illustrations copyright © 2007 by Stephen Sinatra, James Roberts, and Martin Zucker. All rights reserved
 
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada
 
Illustrations by Linda Tenukas
 
Design and composition by Navta Associates, Inc.
 
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
 
Sinatra, Stephen T.
Reverse heart disease now : stop deadly cardiovascular plaque before it’s too late / Stephen Sinatra and James Roberts ; with Martin Zucker.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 13: 978-0-471-74704-8 ISBN 10: 0-471-74704-1 (cloth)
1. Heart—Diseases—Alternative treatment—Popular works. 2. Heart—Diseases—Prevention—Popular works. 3. Atherosclerotic plaque. I.
Roberts, James, date—II. Zucker, Martin. III. Title.
RC684.A48S564 2006
616.1’205—dc22
2006004868

 
To Jan, Cindy, and Rosita—our wives—for their love, patience, and support.
Preface
From Crisis to Prevention: The Transformation of Two Cardiologists
We consider ourselves a new breed of cardiologists—making our patients healthier and keeping them out of hospitals. We were once “typical” board-certified cardiologists. We did thousands of angiograms and performed emergency cardiac procedures. We rolled up our sleeves at all hours of the day and night. We did what we were trained to do and thought we did the very best for our patients. We saw ourselves as saviors.
In the beginning, we didn’t know there were other ways to practice cardiology other than what we had been taught. Then we learned differently. We learned we could stabilize killer arterial plaque—stop it in its tracks—and maybe even reverse it. And what we learned changed our lives and the lives of our patients.
Independently, something big happened to us both on our journey as cardiologists. Medically speaking, we became born-again doctors with an enlarged vision that transformed the way we practice. We refer to it as New Cardiology or integrative cardiology, and it gives us dynamic tools to raise patients to the highest level of their health potential. It brings together conventional care with complementary care. In this new format, we are as comfortable recommending nutritional supplements and mind/body approaches as we are prescribing bypass surgery or a heart drug. We integrate what works the best.
Over the years, we have seen a slow but growing acceptance within the medical profession regarding the effectiveness of natural alternatives for a wide range of cardiovascular disorders such as angina, arrhythmias, high blood pressure, and heart failure. This is the way it should be: integrating the best of conventional medicine with natural healing.
We believe this is smart medicine that can save countless lives and make a huge dent in the continuing epidemic of cardiovascular disease. Usually, with a combined program of nutritional medicine, medications, or reverse lifestyle changes, and, if necessary, surgery, we can stabilize or reverse existing disease. Many of our sickest patients make remarkable recoveries.
We have written this book as a guide for you, the medical consumer. It is an effort to explain and demonstrate the benefits of an integrated cardiology approach based on our medical research and our combined fifty years of clinical cardiology practice. The information will help you understand how arteries become enveloped in inflammation and plaque, which may lead to heart attack, stroke, and heart failure.
We also want to show how patients and doctors can work together to promote health and vitality. There are wonderful options—medications and scientifically proven supplements and lifestyle changes—with which to extinguish the flames of disease and promote good blood flow, even for the most compromised cases. This book is about integrating those options to restore and maintain the best possible arterial function and a vigorously pumping heart. It is a guide to improving and saving lives.

Dr. Sinatra’s Story
Many years ago, a cardiologist called me to transfer a very sick patient from the emergency room where I was working to another hospital. The patient was too sick to transfer. His blood pressure was way down. He had chest pains. I tried to discourage the doctor, reminding him that the patient was very unstable, it was the middle of winter, and it was four o’clock in the morning. But the patient’s wife wanted him transferred. When she finally understood that her husband could die in the ambulance, she turned to me and asked, “Are you any good?” I looked her in the eyes and said, “I’m the best there is,” a line I remembered from a Clint Eastwood movie in which he was an ace pilot. That calmed her down. She had to hear that. She accepted the plan that her husband stay put, and happily we were able to help him.
Over the years, I’ve treated countless cardiac emergencies—people literally a heartbeat away from death. I’ve done middle-of-the