From Library Journal
Here, two cardiologists analyze current treatment strategies for heart disease and offer prescriptions for improving heart health. In Heal Your Heart, an authority on coronary artery narrowing advocates early diagnosis to minimize risk, a very low-fat diet, moderate exercise, and the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs. Unfortunately, the many current references to the clinical literature with which Gould supports his regimen require considerable effort to locate and then interpret. His recommendation of reducing daily consumption of dietary fat to no more than ten percent of calories is significantly lower than what is currently recommended by the American Heart Association (AHA) and the National Cholesterol Education Program. In addition, the text could have benefited from the inclusion of tables and illustrations more accessible to a general audience. Nevertheless, his book is a worthwhile selection because it provides the sophisticated lay reader with detailed information on how the heart functions and the cause and course of atherosclerosis (coronary artery narrowing) as well as a program for taking control of heart disease that can be modified to suit a wide variety of needs. Recommended for large consumer health collections. Living Longer with Heart Disease poses more questions than it ultimately answers. Authored by the director of the Noninvasive Heart Center, San Diego, it largely serves to question traditional medical practice and much of the current medical establishment, leaving the reader stuck in a maze of medical confusion. For example, Wayne's discussion of the "Cholesterol Myth" may well lead readers to conclude that taking a "statin" (a specific class of drug designed to lower cholesterol levels) may be medically unnecessary. While blaming the pharmaceutical industry's greed for spawning a deceptive mass-marketing campaign concerning the drug's benefits, Wayne fails to inform readers about current AHA guidelines for prescribing these drugs, which clearly state the medical necessity for such therapy as well as recommended dosages and adverse effects. Given Wayne's failure to provide consumers with clear and impartial answers to their medical questions, this book is not recommended.?Gail Hendler, New York Acad. of Medicine
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
About the Author
Howard H. Wayne, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.A.C.P., is Director of the Noninvasive Heart Center in San Diego, CA. Twenty five years ago, he established the first department of noninvasive cardiology in a Southern California hospital, and since that time has shared his methods around the world with colleagues. Dr. Wayne is also the author of
How to Protect Your Heart From Your Doctor. He resides in La Mesa, CA
