Reverse Heart Disease Now: Stop Deadly Cardiovascular Plaque Before It's Too Late [Hardcover]

M.D., F.A.C.C. Stephen T. Sinatra (Author), M.D., F.A.C.C. James C. Roberts (Author), Martin Zucker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0471747041 | ISBN-13: 978-0471747048 | Edition: 1

While most books focus solely on the role of cholesterol in heart disease, Reverse Heart Disease Now draws on new research that points to the surprising other causes. Two leading cardiologists draw on their collective fifty years of clinical cardiology research to show you how to combine the benefits of modern medicine, over-the-counter vitamins and supplements, and simple lifestyle changes to have a healthy heart.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

While most books focus solely on the role of cholesterol in heart disease, Reverse Heart Disease Now draws on new research that points to the surprising other causes. Leading cardiologists Dr. Stephen Sinatra and Dr. James Roberts draw on their collective fifty years of clinical cardiology research to show you how to combine the benefits of modern medicine, over-the-counter vitamins and supplements, and simple lifestyle changes to have a healthy heart—— whether you have acute or chronic disease or just want to prevent cardiovascular disease from developing.

Focusing on crisis prevention, Reverse Heart Disease Now gives you the practical information and strategies you need to stop heart disease in its tracks. You'll discover how:

• You can combat heart disease before the first heart attack
• Your arteries can become enveloped in inflammation and plaque that lead to heart attack, stroke, and heart failure—— and what to do about it
• Medications, scientifically proven supplements, and lifestyle changes can extinguish the flames of disease and purge and stabilize arteries—— even for the most compromised cases
• Fish oil, nattokinase, L-arginine, CoQ10, magnesium, vitamin C, and other supplements can help prevent arterial clogging
• CoQ10, along with L-carnitine and D-ribose, can powerfully recharge weak and ailing hearts

Through the breakthrough integrative program found in Reverse Heart Disease Now, you can become more involved in your own healing process and even prevent heart disease before it strikes.

From the Back Cover

Prevent and even reverse the effects of heart disease

"In Reverse Heart Disease Now, Drs. Sinatra and Roberts have taken preventive cardiology to an entirely new level by introducing innovative strategies for boosting cellular energy while reducing arterial plaque. Also included is a comprehensive, easy-to-follow program that provides a blueprint for prevention. If your goal is a long and healthy life, I highly recommend this important and groundbreaking new book."
—Nicholas Perricone, M.D., bestselling author of The Perricone Prescription and Dr. Perricone's 7 Secrets to Health, Beauty, and Longevity

"A comprehensive and accessible guide to stop the rusting of our arteries so we can live longer and better."
—Mehmet C. Oz, M.D., Professor of Surgery at Columbia University, author of YOU: The Owner's Manual

"With this knowledge millions of patients can avoid needless heart attacks and strokes and postpone and often even cancel surgery for blocked blood vessels."
—Garry Gordon, M.D, D.O., M.D. (H), author of The Omega-3 Miracle

"A must-read for anyone interested in stopping heart disease in its tracks. If you want to live a long and healthy life, this is the book for you."
—Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., bestselling author of Brain Longevity

"Reverse Heart Disease Now is the number one resource available for reducing the risk of heart disease. As we are all at risk, this comprehensive yet reader-friendly text is a must-read for everyone."
—David Perlmutter, M.D., F.A.C.N., coauthor of The Better Brain Book

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (November 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471747041
• ISBN-13: 978-0471747048
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #216,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

129 of 134 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best New Book on Heart Disease, December 16, 2006

By 

Robert Sager "drBob" (Liberal, KS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Reverse Heart Disease Now: Stop Deadly Cardiovascular Plaque Before It's Too Late (Hardcover)

It's too bad this book won't be read by every primary care physician and every cardiologist and every patient with heart disease, but it should be. The collaboration of two leading edge cardiologists has resulted in a book full of the latest approaches to managing plaques and heart disease. This book moves beyond Dr. Sinatra's first classic, The Sinatra Solution, and focuses on the problem of plaque build-up in your arteries. The latest theory of inflammation as the cause of hardening of the arteries, as well as many other chronic illnesses is addressed here with dietary changes, supplements, and medications. For example, when to use statins alongside the natural supplements for reducing cholesterol and other risk factors for plaque formation is clearly discussed. It's wonderful to read what these two doctors do for their patients outside the box set by the FDA in defining the indications for prescription medications. From my own experience their approaches do work for many people. I will be recommending this book to many patients and featuring it on my website.
Bob Sager, MD, DABFM

59 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great primer for Docs & patients alike, saved my life!, December 5, 2007

By 

Jill Merrill "Jill Merrill" (NC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Reverse Heart Disease Now: Stop Deadly Cardiovascular Plaque Before It's Too Late (Hardcover)

I have been reading alternative & conventional texts for years and what I found is that when I had lots of health problems the conventional medicine only works to get you out of immediate danger but does not address underlying problems or corrections, and treats symptoms only.
After turning 50 I decided I needed to read this book and found it to be a wealth of information. Thanks to this book I went out and found an "intergrative" doctor who did these extra tests and found my LPa's were >300, Normal is below 30 (even though other cholesterol numbers were good). This means I'm a walking time bomb for blood clots to brain or heart. By using L-lysine, curcumin and natkonise my numbers are 45 after 2 months. Conventional doctors don't do these extra tests because there are no drugs to fix LPa's. By reading this book, going to find an intergrative doctor, (one trained as MD & then gets extra training in alternative medicine)I believe I will live longer,(survival rates are low for blood clots to brain or heart). My new doctor has also helped me with numerous other ailments an I feel better than I did 10 years ago.
Thank you Dr. Sinatra. If I had not read your book I would never have known about the LPa's. You saved my life!

213 of 243 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Optimistic assessment for heart patients, but some info overload too., April 10, 2007

By 

2bluesky2 (Corvallis, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reverse Heart Disease Now: Stop Deadly Cardiovascular Plaque Before It's Too Late (Hardcover)

In the final chapter of the book, the authors set out what they call the "four pillars of healing." These are:
1. A healthy diet to help you achieve a healthy body weight.
2. Appropriate over-the-counter supplements and prescription medications for your condition.
3. Exercise.
4. Use of mind/body techniques to control unhealthy moods, attitudes, and behaviors.

The main text of the book, however, does not give equal emphasis to these four "pillars." The authors use 2 chapters and 71 pages to discuss over-the-counter supplements. They discuss prescription medications in one 17 page chapter. They discuss diet in an 11 page chapter. They discuss exercise in one short 5 page chapter. They discuss stress management in one 10 page chapter. Supplements get much more coverage than all other treatments combined. The authors acknowledge that heart disease (plaque build up in your arteries) is a lifestyle disease (p.217). They recommend lifestyle changes, but the overwhelming impression you get from the book is that over-the-counter supplements are the most essential treatment for heart disease/plaque build up in your arteries.

The authors are so enamoured with supplements, that they give you a full regimen with estimated costs. They estimate the cost to follow their supplement recommendations at from $100 to $500 a month. You will take a handful of pills daily if you follow their supplement recommendations. For many, this prospect may be just as unappealing as taking a handful of prescription medications.

One major weakness in the book is that the authors don't provide any footnote references in their text. They provide an extensive list of books and articles at the end of the book, but there is no realistic way to see whether these actually support the many claims of the authors throughout the book.

The authors also describe a surprising number of obscure techniques for testing for heart disease - many of which your doctor will never have heard of and won't know how to interpret. Given the pervasiveness of heart disease in our society, we don't need more sophisticated testing techniques. Just assume that you need to act to prevent or treat it. The most effective techniques for preventing and treating heart disease are lifestyle changes that we should all adopt anyway.

The authors claim to practice integrative medicine. I was still surprised to see that they have a 9-page chapter in which they support the use of intravenous and oral chelation therapy. And yet they also at times recommend bypass surgery and angioplasty. I was not surprised that neither surgery nor chelation made it onto their "four pillars" list. Yet, for these authors, integrative medicine seems to mean that "anything goes."

Throughout the book the authors rely heavily on their own clinical experience in treating heart patients. They discuss success stories with patients who had even very severe problems. The authors are refreshingly optimistic that even severely afflicted heart patients can achieve symptom relief and a fairly normal life. That is certainly one of the valuable messages of this book.

This book provides a lot of interesting information about a whole lot of methods for diagnosing and treating heart disease. Notwithstanding the usefulness of the "four pillars," the book is weak in describing a plan of action for you. Too much emphasis is placed on over-the-counter supplements. We know heart disease is treatable, but there is no magic bullet treatment. Give yourself the best chance by also incorporating ALL of the other "pillars" into your prevention or treatment program.