Customer Reviews

Syndrome X: The Silent Killer: The New Heart Disease Risk

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

 

 

and this was by far the most informative and didnt deliver any mis-information. The other 4 books often refer back to Dr. Reaven a lot, and with some interpretation variations. Its wasnt quite as easy reading as some of the other books, but it was the most correct and informative, after all Dr. Reaven as it turns out was a founding father of Syndrome X. It made me think twice before dieting especially since the Syndrome X diet is so different than others such as Zone and Atkins etc., that typically make Syndrome X much worse. With estimates as high as 1/3 of the country having this Syndrome X to one degree or another it is just about an epidemic so this book will only be even more useful in the future. So if you have CHD at an early age, high cholesterol that just wont come down, sky high triglycerides, and the start of early type 2 diabetes, then this might provide a lot of answers.

The bad points about this book: It didn't tell one if
coffee was to be avoided, nor did it discuss sodium in the
diet or water. It was also very technical reading and a little "dry"
On the other hand, I learned a lot about insulin and the
heart. Dr. Reaven has wonderful qualifications to be writing
on this subject. There is a diet section which will be very
helpful. It's not a terribly long book, so a lot can be
learned in a short time. His diet recommendations are well

tested and effective. He also does not pull any punches
and makes it clear that your MUST lose weight and exercise
regularly if you are to be heart-healthy. I kind of liked that.
For added incentive he well describes what a heart attack
feels like and the type of permanent damage it does.

This is a great book that will remain the "Classic" long after all others on this subject have faded. It's written by the physician who found Syndrome X and gives straight-up information on the subject of how uncontrolled insulin and glucose levels damage our health. Although there is a wealth of information on the internet, much of it is inaccurate or partially inaccurate, and that's the case with Syndrome X. All the other Syndrome X books that have been written were knock-offs published after this one by authors who knew far less about the subject. What you get in this book is 100% quality information and solutions that you can trust. However, it's not necessarily written for the customer who wants only touch-feely anecdotes; it tells us the real scoop. Reading the medical journals of new research emerging confirms everything in this book, and shows that high insulin levels can cause other horrible diseases besides Syndrome X, type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease, such as all these new ones that have been added to the list: colon cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, sleep breathing disorder, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, impaired cognitive (brain)function, polycystic ovary syndrome, and a couple of others disorders. This book is the best of the bunch.

This is the first book review I've ever written... Anywhere! However, if my experience can help anyone, I feel I must write a review on this book.
I am not a good writer! My writing style is a reflection primarily of the writing I do most, research notes. I never have to write papers, so my style is for me alone. I'll try to be concise and to-the-point and still add enough seasoning to give a flavor as to why it was important to me and why I wish I had been exposed to these studies and findings years ago.
First of all, this is not a bathroom book that one can read a couple minutes here and a couple of minutes there. I started reading it on the hour-long drive back from the doctor's office where I got the book while my wife drove. Before we got home I realized that I would need to read it as a textbook and not as a novel! For that reason, I set it aside until I could. I carried it on vacation and to business trips hoping to have time to devote to it... Jury duty provided that time. I was right! It did require reading it as a book! I made many margin notes, underlinings, cross-references, and lists inside the front and back covers. I only regretted not having a computer to take more detailed notes. I'm doing that on the second reading.
When I discovered I had high insulin, I started reading all I could about high insulin, type II and insulin resistance. There is a lot of information... Especially on the Internet... But, much of it disagrees with each other. I look primarily for actual studies and not opinions or guesses. Some of those sites provide good information, charts and diagrams to other sites that can be verified by actual studies... I also like to be able to look at the study. Many times what is written about a study isn't what is actually in the study... Especially government studies. Many government studies are even miss-reported by the government! But that's just me. It's the way I try and weed out good information from junk, realizing that I'll still accept junk at times and reject good, but that's why pencils have erasers... I can always change my conclusions whenever new information shows errors in those conclusions.
The problem with antidotal information is that it may be ignoring key parameters that were never considered and never measured, but may be key to the results observed.

My first physical was during the Vietnam War. My blood test results required a Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT). The GTT results were fine. Since that time, occasional blood tests have also resulted in GT test.... Each time, the GTT passed fine. Now, I suffer from what would normally be considered serious diabetic symptoms without being diagnosed with diabetes (even with the new diagnostic guidelines.) Both my blood sugar and A1c tests are below the diabetic guidelines for type II.
"Syndrome X" explains it all! MY next step is not to criticize the parts of the book that were difficult to read, but to put it into practice and see what happens.
Take this review for whatever it might be worth to you... I really don't care! I'm not selling anything. I don't care how many books are sold.

The lead researcher on HOW too many refined carbs can lead to coronary heart disease. His description of the HOW is quite valuable, if a little repetitive. His prescription for action is adequate with some useful material, but not really his forte. See the reviews of the hardcover version, which has a slightly different title.

The book was ok, but with all the information at our fingertips on the web and also knowing some things about the heart and other conditions, I felt like I wasted my money except for the diet part of the book. He didn't really list anything that I didn't already know and he didn't give any symptoms, except for tests. I guess you have to go by that, but I just felt let down by the book. I wanted more from it. I know about the chambers of the heart and techniques used to treat heart problems. I just felt all of that could have been left out. I want to know more about the disease and how they came across it and how people's lives are doing now with the diet and things like that. I just felt like he was a doctor giving advice, but it lacked that punch that keeps you wanting to know more. He didn't give a good review on meds and he just didn't sound like a good writer. I felt like he was saying the same thing over and over at times and he just didn't need to explain all the stuff about the heart and how we burn calories and stuff like that. It just seemed redundant. Some people may want to know all of that stuff or they may already know it. I just felt like I was reading a boring book that had things in there that were of not any use to me. I hope I'm not being to harsh, but I just was so let down.

I bought this book to gain a deeper understanding of the link between high blood glucose, high insulin levels, and Syndrome X. On this the book delivers, and has a wealth of info that I have not read anywhere else. As someone who has Syndrome X, I am very interested in the 'why'. The book fails miserably in my opinion in the diet section, which I was really looking forward to. THe first 2/3 of the book is dedicated to the science, specifically why you should avoid refined carbohydrate, but the diet suggestions do not back this up. I was very disappointed that I will not be able to utilize this section of the book. It's almost as if someone wrote the first part of the book, then someone else wrote the diet section and they did not share notes! I think the authors of the book were trying to appeal to a wider audience in making this diet look like something the average person who struggles with needing to change their diet will actually stick to. A much better book for the diet is Syndrom X, by Jack Challem/Burton Berkson, and Melissa Smith. Their book backs up what is said in this book, but the diet recommendations are actually consistent with their message. I gave this 3 stars because I think the science in the front of the book is worth the read, but don't follow the diet if you actually want to reverse or prevent Syndrome X.

This is an excellent book with tons of useful and well documented information. A must read for folks with heart disease.

OK, so I'm not an expert. I am a person who has learned about good nutrituion through a lot of comparative research and experimentation. IMHO, this book is -- and this is a mild, technical term -- Hogwash. It is bad science, bad nutrition and, perhaps worst of all, bad writing. Don't waste your money.