Customer Reviews

Every Heart Attack is Preventable

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I only wish I had seen this book before suffering a heart attack at 42. In seeking to change my life, I read six decent books on overcoming heart attacks before finding this one. Friends, this book has more great information than the six previous books I read combined. Mogadam should get an award for writing it. Every single page has great information. It even addressed one area -- lipoprotein A -- that caused my heart attack that very, very few others even note. Do yourself or a loved one a favor, buy this book now and make the changes that will save your life. It's easy to read, take notes and implement.

Finally, the risk factors for heart attack (or other coronary event) are put together and quantified. The author enables the reader, after much background analysis, to assign a personal risk rating for age, diet, exercise, cholesterol, and family history. I was able to find out that given my circumstances, my risk of heart attack over the next 10 years is 20%. Sure it's a rough guess, but it's a start. More importantly, I can get the risk down to 10% or less; and know when I'm there. If you are middle aged, you need this book.

Great book because:

1) He's an M.D. that also teaches at a university hospital.
2) No hocus-pocus ancient remedies, or magic bullets.
3) Covers the results from newer longitudinal studies.
4) Discusses the new findings on causes of heart disease.
5) Discusses which foods are good/bad for you.
6) Develops a scoring system for foods that is easy to follow.
7) Points out that it is really a multi-faceted problem.
8) Describes the medical tests to get.

What I didn't like:

1) He says I have to exercise more.
2) He says I have to lose more weight.

I can now understand that: all food is bad, but without it you die; some foods are better than others; food is not the only part of this problem.

Overall, this is a great book that summarizes current understanding of heart disease. Perhaps most important is his point on the multi-faceted nature of heart disease. There are some really interesting charts and diagrams showing how its just not X (just not fat, just not cholesterol).

Great book. I highly recommend it.

John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX

Dr. Mogadam has compressed a huge quantity of information into the nearly 400 pages of this book. The unifying theme in this book is that Dr. Mogadam describes 20 risk factors for heart attack and proceeds to describe how diet,exercise, supplements, and medication impacts on each one. He includes discussions of some of the less commonly performed tests, like lipoprotein(a), fibrinogen, and chronic infections.

If you're searching for a good summary of conventional thought on cholesterol and heart disease risk, this book can be a useful reference. You might find it a bit tough to read front to back, as the style is somewhat dense and didactic. I think it might suit best as a reference to refer to when specific questions come to mind on these various risk factors.

This is the book to read if you want more information than one-page articles about heart health. I found that most articles and pamphlets gave general information, but did not tell me anything really convincing about actual risks and preventative measures (such as diet, exercise, etc.). This book tells WHY various things put one at risk and explains HOW the preventative measures will help. Plus, it gives practical advice rather than preachy Thou Shalt Nots which will leave you confused and eating nothing but rice cakes. If you want to be an informed patient, reading Dr. Mogodam's book gives you the information to understand your health and make your own decisions. He also discusses risk factors other than cholesterol.

This is the best book I have ever encountered regarding the actions an individual should take to prevent heart disease. Every recommandation that Dr. Mogadam gives is supported by substantial research, based on significant sample sizes and sufficient exposure time for observations and conclusions. Having a strong history of heart disease in my family, I quickly applied his recommandations for diet and excercise (yes, this is basic, but he explains them in a way that no other has). I was rigorous in applying his approach, and this has been a life changer for me. Over five months, I lost 45 lbs. to bring my Body Mass Index within the recommended tolerance (albeit the max) and my blood pressure was reduced by 20/10 points. This book has been such a lifechanger for me that I have reordered a dozen and given one to all immediate family members, and to numerous friends who have concerns about heart health.

Here's a plan for a diet which is tailored for those with heart attack risk factors, from hypertension and high cholesterol to diabetes. The bulk of Every Heart Attack Is Preventable consists of ratings of foods which are proven to help heart strength: tables chart food scores and draw important links between these scores and heart health.

While much of the information in this book is still valid, none of it was new to me, and some of it is no longer valid. This was disappointing.

This is the best book I have read that really explains the behind-the-scene workings of the relationship among what we eat, exercise, and issues of cholesterol, fats, fruits and vegetables, and other factors to our heart health. I am dedicated to changing my diet to be more heart healthy. It will be a standard reference that I will return to often. There are some rather simple dietary changes that can make a difference.

So far I think this book has alot of good info but not put together very well. If most people are like me, they want the info but also want an easy place to start at. The tables in the book are not enough to go by and the reading is overwhelming and confusing. If you love biology and are the type to ask your doctor a hundred questions, then this book is for you. If you are like me, and want something more simple to get started and more details later, then this is not that book.