Healing from the Heart: A Leading Heart Surgeon Explores the Power of ComplementaryMedicine [Hardcover]

M.D., Mehmet C. Oz (Author), Dean Ornish (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1998

In Healing From The Heart, noted cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz presents a cutting edge vision of medicine for the 21st century--an outlook incorporating both ancient and ultra-modern approaches to healing. Recounting his own journey of discovery as a physician, along with gripping accounts of his patients' recoveries, Dr. Oz reveals the crucial role of the spiritual heart--emotional well-being--in empowering us to maintain or regain our physical health. He explains the value of such complementary therapies as hypnosis, guided imagery, massage, reflexology, aromatherapy, music therapy, prayer, yoga, and energy medicine, detailing studies and case histories of their use in combination with the latest surgical techniques. Healing From The Heart is a must-read for all who suffer from illness, particularly heart and surgery patients, and their loved ones.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Mehmet Oz is a Renaissance man of cardiac care, combining yoga, aromatherapy, hypnosis, energy healing, music therapy, acupuncture, and visual imagery into his surgery practice at the Complementary Care Unit of New York City's Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. He's adamant that the relationship between traditional and alternative medicine should be symbiotic, not mutually exclusive. His patients are proof of this: when treated holistically, not as just "another transplant patient" with a plaque-addled heart, they perceive less pain during surgery and recuperation, are less likely to suffer depression, and heal more quickly.

While med school at the University of Pennsylvania didn't expose Oz to the holistic healing methods he employs today, his upbringing in Turkey and exposure to cultures worldwide did leave him open to new ideas. Oz helped develop the LVAD, or left ventricular assist device, which helps the heart of a patient awaiting a transplant keep pumping. Piqued when he was asked about his patients, "But has restoring their hearts restored their health?"--and he had to respond, "No"--Oz started incorporating one alternative method after another into his practice. He started with massage after seeing how it rejuvenated his wife after childbirth.

Healing from the Heart is not for the weak of stomach; Oz occasionally gets graphic, such as in the opening heart-transplant scene: "I finished closing the last tiny bleeder, then called for the electric saw, which was plugged in and handed to me by its metallic handle ... the saw cut through the bone like soft pine." If there's anything that might inspire you to pass up greasy French fries, this book is it. Current cardiac patients and their families will be enthralled by the tale of Oz's holistic revolution and his patient-success stories, and other health practitioners would do well to pay attention to what he advocates. --Erica Jorgensen

From Library Journal

Oz, a noted cardiovascular surgeon and director of the Complementary Care Center at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, relates his experiences in combining complementary medicine with more traditional treatments. Today, his scientific approach is setting the standard for measuring outcomes and benefits of various complementary healing modalities in pre-operative, intra-operative, and post-operative cardiac surgery patients. His multidisciplinary team of nurses, energy healers, and various health practitioners continues to integrate and investigate the roles of music therapy, hypnotherapy, nutrition, massage therapy, yoga, and therapeutic touch in allopathic medicine. Not since Norman Cousins's Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient (LJ 9/1/79) has the patient's mind-body healing potential been so eloquently described. Recommended for all libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/98; see also Julie Motz's Hands of Life (LJ 9/15/98) for another account of Dr. Oz's program.AEd.]ACharles Wessel, Falk Lib. of the Health Sciences, Univ. of Pittsburg.
-ACharles Wessel, Falk Lib. of the Health Sciences, Univ. of Pittsburgh
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult; 1St Edition edition (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525944109
• ISBN-13: 978-0525944102
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,142,818 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

MEHMET C. OZ, M.D., is also a New York Times bestselling author and the health expert of The OprahWinfrey Show. He is professor and vice-chairman of surgery at New York Presbyterian Columbia University and the medical director of the Integrated Medicine Center and the director of the Heart Institute.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FANTASTIC BOOK - SUPERBLY WRITTEN!, February 26, 2002

By 

Sandra D. Peters "Seagull Books" (Prince Edward Island, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Healing from the Heart: How Unconventional Wisdom Unleashes the Power of Modern Medicine (Paperback)

What is impressive about this book is the author's concepts of healing both heart and mind as he points out just how closely the two are interconnected. The writing style is one that will grasp the reader's attention from start to finish. The approach to holistic health is a welcome approach to healing. It is a concept that is gradually increasing in the health care field, but one that still has a long way to go before it is universally accepted by all physicians. More education and information needs to be provided in this area to all health care providers. Using the holistic approach, there can be fewer side effects from medication, less depression and a general feeling of well being during the most trying and difficult times. There is much to be said on combining Western and Eastern traditions in the process of healing. Our world can benefit dramatically from this approach and the author vividly explains why throughout the pages of this well-researched and superbly written book. It is highly recommended reading material and most deserving of a five star rating.

58 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Medicine of the Future, November 6, 2002

By 

W. Rashed (Jabriya, KUWAIT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Healing from the Heart: How Unconventional Wisdom Unleashes the Power of Modern Medicine (Paperback)

Dr. Oz is an accomplished heart surgeon in the field of cardiac transplantation. He describes how he combines complementary medicine (e.g. hypnosis, reflexology, yoga, message, acupuncture. Etc) with orthodox Western medicine. There is an excellent forward by Dr Dean Ornish, and an interesting epilogue containing an overview of the complementary medicine techniques. The bulk of the book contains stories of patients Dr. Oz treated using this revolutionary way. I am a cardiologist, and I have a great interest in combining western medicine with complementary medicine, which is the reason I bought this book. However this book was a bit boring to read and was also a bit of a disappointment. Nevertheless, those interested in this new medicine, which I think will be the medicine of the new millennium, will want to read this book.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for anyone concerned about his cardio-care., January 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Healing from the Heart: A Leading Heart Surgeon Explores the Power of ComplementaryMedicine (Hardcover)

A heart-transplant recipient myself, I was doing research on how to support my body to relieve the many side-effects of the immune suppressing drugs I must take when I happened to see Dr. Oz' book. I literally cried tears of joy as I read that there is a revolution finally taking place in medicine which understands that the body and mind work together for our health. Dr. Oz' book confimed my own discoveries of a thirty-five year avocation of clinical nutrition: there is a way to support a body after transplantation so that one can reduce the drugs and, in my case, I could have all medications held except one. This alone will reduce the wear and trear on my body, particularly the cleansing organs. My well-documented research is awaiting publication. In Dr. Oz we finally have the best of both worlds...the best allopathic and the opportunity for the best complementary medicine. Thank you, Dr. Oz, from the bottom of my new heart and may you be the beginning of a new era in the healing art of medicine.