The Cure for Heart Disease: Truth Will Save a Nation [Paperback]

Dwight Lundell (Author), Todd R. Nordstrom (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 10, 2007

The Cure for Heart Disease, although written in everyday language, is different than every other book exploring the number one killer of Americans. A riveting yet straight forward discussion that challenges public consensus, explains the reasons for the epidemic of heart disease, and provides an easy to follow guide to eliminate heart disease and reduce the risk of heart attach and other debilitating diseases.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An elegantly simple explanation of a complex disease that anyone can understand. Every person following the advice in this book can dramatically alter the course of heart disease in themselves, their loved ones, and our nation. " --Edward Perlstein M.D.

I have been amazingly rejuvenated to get back on track and after reading Dr. Lundell's book I now know that I was never on track. This is the most important book you will ever read! --A Seay, Scottsdale, Arizona.

Unlike so many books on heart disease, I could not put this one down! It was easy to understand and kept me in anticipation of finding the hidden treasure--the Cure. The co-author puts himself in the position of a skeptic, which allows the reader to uncover the information just as he does. And, Dr. Lundell really cares--he presents the facts and gives the reader choices. Thank you!! --Liz Lehn --Five year veteran of quadruple by-pass surgery

I have been amazingly rejuvenated to get back on track and after reading Dr. Lundell's book I now know that I was never on track. This is the most important book you will ever read! --A Seay, Scottsdale, Arizona.

Unlike so many books on heart disease, I could not put this one down! It was easy to understand and kept me in anticipation of finding the hidden treasure--the Cure. The co-author puts himself in the position of a skeptic, which allows the reader to uncover the information just as he does. And, Dr. Lundell really cares--he presents the facts and gives the reader choices. Thank you!! --Liz Lehn --Five year veteran of quadruple by-pass surgery

I have been amazingly rejuvenated to get back on track and after reading Dr. Lundell's book I now know that I was never on track. This is the most important book you will ever read! --A Seay, Scottsdale, Arizona.

Unlike so many books on heart disease, I could not put this one down! It was easy to understand and kept me in anticipation of finding the hidden treasure--the Cure. The co-author puts himself in the position of a skeptic, which allows the reader to uncover the information just as he does. And, Dr. Lundell really cares--he presents the facts and gives the reader choices. Thank you!! --Liz Lehn --Five year veteran of quadruple by-pass surgery

I have been amazingly rejuvenated to get back on track and after reading Dr. Lundell's book I now know that I was never on track. This is the most important book you will ever read! --A Seay, Scottsdale, Arizona.

Unlike so many books on heart disease, I could not put this one down! It was easy to understand and kept me in anticipation of finding the hidden treasure--the Cure. The co-author puts himself in the position of a skeptic, which allows the reader to uncover the information just as he does. And, Dr. Lundell really cares--he presents the facts and gives the reader choices. Thank you!! --Liz Lehn--Five year veteran of quadruple by-pass surgery

About the Author

Dr. Dwight Lundell, received his MD degree in the first class of the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He completed training in General Surgery at the University of Arizona Medical Center. Cardiac Surgery training was completed at Yale University, where he served as Chief Resident. Dr Lundell has dedicated his career to the treatment of Heart Disease, having practiced Cardiac surgery in Arizona for 25 years. He has now refocused his efforts to the prevention of Heart disease. He is certified by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. Dr. Lundell is also an accomplished athlete, having competed and won two Arizona Ironman events. Dr. Lundell also formulates nutritional products for Asantae, inlcuding the revoluionary new weight loss product RealW8. (TSXV: JVA OTC BB: ASNHF)

Product Details

• Paperback: 234 pages
• Publisher: Heart Surgeons Health Plan; 1st edition (July 10, 2007)
• Language: Korean
• ISBN-10: 0979034000
• ISBN-13: 978-0979034008
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #53,579 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Lundell's experience in cardiovascular and thoracic surgery over the last 25 years includes having performed over 5000 coronary bypass operations, certification by the American Board of Surgery, the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

Dr. Lundell was a pioneer in "Off-Pump" heart surgery reducing surgical complications and recovery times. He's in the Beating Heart Hall of Fame and has been listed in Phoenix Magazine's Top Doctors for 10 years.

He has been recognized by his peers as a leader and has served as Chief resident at the University of Arizona and Yale University Hospitals and later served as Chief of Staff and Chief of Surgery at several hospitals in the Phoenix area.

He was one of the founding partners of the Lutheran Heart Hospital which became the second largest Heart hospital in U.S. and is now owned by Banner Health

As a recognized leader in his field, Dr. Lundell has consulted and advised for a variety of leading medical device manufacturers such as Cardio Thoracic Systems, Inc. before and after it's acquisition by Guidant Corporation. He advised St. Jude Medical on tissue valve implantation and marketing. For A-Med, Inc., he consulted on, conducted, and published the first clinical study on miniature pumps for heart support. He co-authored a clinical study validating key technology for Coalescent Surgical, which was subsequently acquired by Medtronic, Inc.

In 2004, Dr. Lundell left his successful thoracic and cardiovascular surgical practice after 25 years to open a clinic to test his theory that inflammation in the arteries was the cause of heart disease, a theory traditional medicine saw as heresy, disputing the cholesterol theory.

Leaving surgery brought the freedom to refocus his career, writing books and articles, presentations, interviews and speeches to educate on inflammation and how to prevent and reverse heart disease through nutrition and lifestyle changes.

He is the author of The Cure For Heart Disease.

Dr. Lundell's clinical testing led to the development of a unique supplement designed to reduce inflammation, HeartShot™, as well as an exciting new weight loss product RealW8™, both produced and sold by Asantae (TSXV: JVA OTC PINK: ASNHF) independant affiliates.

His position as product formulator for Asantae allows him to travel the country speaking, educating and presenting information about inflammation and heart disease changing the health of America.

Dr. Lundell enjoys time with his children and grandchildren, and competes in triathlons; he is the 2008 and 2010 Ironman Arizona Champion in the 65-69 age group and placed 10th and 7th in the Ironman world championships in Kona Hawaii, in 2009, and 2011 respectively.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

207 of 208 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Serious work and recommendations by Dr. Lundell (writing style and lack of organization makes it somewhat difficult to read) October 3, 2009

By J. Al-hashimi VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Dr. Lundell is a cardiac surgeon and a scientist with 5,000 cardiac surgeries under his belt. He is trying to get a message, (with a lot of science behind it) out there. While this message has been "out there" for some time, he makes a more specific case in regards to cardiac health and disease and brings his personal experience and perspective to it. In short, he says that inflammation is the main cause of cardiac disease and that our focus should be on that. In order to reduce inflammation he says everyone should:

1.) Consume more essential free fatty acids, particularly omega 3 fatty acids. He states that there are 4,500 articles that come to this conclusion about the benefits of omega 3 and that some countries like Japan have taken this seriously. The main type of omega 3 we need is EPA and DHA and both come from fish and marine algae, and he suggests only using high concentration purified fish oil with atl ealst 500 mg EPA and DHA. You can test it by putting it in the freezer. If it gets cloudy it has too many impurities. Dr. Barry Sears says the same thing (and sells it on his website).

2. Add CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) to your diet. The body cannot synthesize it so you need to get it from dairy products and meat. CLA has shown to be: a significant antioxidant, increases energy, improve insulin sensitivity, anti-inflammatory (a natural Cox 2 inhibitor that may increase the synthesis of the anti-inflammatory prostaglandins), reduces the production of cytokines, reduces abdominal fat and preserves muscle mass. It has also been shown to be anti-atherogenic. CLA works better when there is adequate omega 3 in our system and vice versa. The benefit of having both is synergistic.

3. Take a baby aspirin (81 mg) once a day.... Studies show benefit against chronic low-grade inflammation (it is a non-steroidal anti-inflammation drug).

4. Consume a lot of anti-oxidants.

5. Lower your sugar and carbohydrate consumption

6. Reduce stress to reduce hormone production by adrenal glands. (Exercise, meditation, reading, taking a drive... whatever works)

7. Eliminate transfats completely, which includes hydrongenated vegetable oil (totally or partially) margarine, commercial baked goods, restaurant fried foods. They interfere with normal metabolism of omega 3. Transfats replace normal fats in the cell wall and interfere with function. Other fats, including animal fats, olive oil and coconut oil are healthful in small quantities.

8. Go on a high protein, low carb, med fat diet, but make sure it is the right fat, like olive oil or coconut oil. He sees sugar and refined carbs as a large cause of inflammation.

9. Lose weight if you need to, quit if you are smoking.

10. Exercise daily. Start slow and don't stop.

11. He recommends lots of vegetables, fruit and protein (meat and dairy is fine) but his emphasis is on avoiding the carbohydrates and the wrong fats.

This advice is for everyone, not just people with coronary disease. Everyone has damage already.

He recommends health screening options so that you know your status, get motivated and stay motivated:

1. Test your CRP (C-reactive protein) The lowest risk is 1.0 or below. Above 3.0 and you are in sig. risk category for coronary disease. You can ask your doctor to measure it. Soon it will become standard because it is a better predictor than LDL.

2. Test your homocysteine levels. High leveles indicate low levels of critical B vitamins esp. B12 adn B9 (folic acid). A lot of vegetarians are low in B12; this could be a bigger risk factor than previously realized.

3. Test your omega 3 index, which measures the amount of omega 3 in the cell walls of your red blood cells. Dr. Lundell offers for you to contact him at his website and he will arrange for it for you as it is not common yet.

4. Have a stress echo and stress nuclear scan performed. You can request these tests.

5. Get a CT or MRI scan of your coronary arteries (MRI is better).

6. Have a carotid ultrasound performed. It is also a surrogate marker for coronary disease. It measures the thickness of your artery wall and the ratio of the intima to the media. It is referred to as CIMT (carotid intimal to medial thickness).

It was a mistake to present this book with the paid writer playing the curmudgeon arguing with Dr. Lundell throughout... I think it got in the way of the material. In my opinion, this book should have been put together with a professional writing style, like most books on disease are nowadays and it should have been organized... it doesn't have an index and takes forever to find something or find if something is missing. Actually, what seemed to be missing was a clear framework or list of what dietary recommendations Dr. Lundell has in mind. He talks about diet, but it is scattered here and there and I had to go over and over it to pick up his points on diet to make sure I understood him.

I don't know if I missed it but I don't think there was anything about CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) supplements. He talked about the importance of CLA and that with a diet of dairy and meat we do get CLA, but he didn't say anything about supplementation. That would be important for vegetarians and vegans. There has been some research on high inflammation in vegetarians, which would have helped to make his case. Actually, it would depend on what they actually ate... probably most vegetarians are on a high-carb low-protein diet (even if they don't think about that way); very few are on a low-carb diet because that would be another restriction of a restricted choice diet... and it would be difficult to be on a vegetarian high-protein diet (that would probably entail consuming 1 1/2 12-ounce blocks of tofu or more per day... which would total 75 gm of protein). I would have been interested in Dr. Lundell's opinions and I believe it would be extremely relevant as a lot of people are leaning towards vegetarianism nowadays for a lot of reasons. As I mentioned before, vegetarians are often B12 deficient which he mentions as another risk in regards to cardiovascular health.

It would have been interesting to know Dr. Lundell's opinion suggested supplements for people with heart disease recommended by Dr. Sinatra, a cardiologist (not a cardiac surgeon).

I think his observations and synthesis of medicine and science in regards to cardiac health and disease are pretty profound and should be taken seriously. Read more ›

88 of 89 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sound Science & Easy-to-read Help for Heart Disease January 24, 2008

By mom2abs

Format:Paperback

As a Registered Dietitian with a PhD in Nutritional Sciences, I was intrigued by Dr. Lundell's book title. In my years of clinical practice, I counseled umpteen patients with heart disease, and usually several other co-existing medical conditions. I knew from experience that the traditional "low-fat, low-cholesterol" and subsequently high-carbohydrate diet was not the answer.

My minor of study for my doctoral degree was microbiology and immunology. Though I did not have the surgeon's perspective to see the inflammation in the cardiac system, other physicians and I discussed the inflammatory hypothesis that Dr. Lundell defends in this book. It makes scientific sense. His book provides convincing evidence to this effect. Scientific peer-reviewed journal publications are cited in the thorough annotated bibliography in the appendices.

More importantly, for the lay person, this book provides excellent practical tips for conforming to the lifestyle that Dr. Lundell recommends. That is to say, actual guidelinees and strategies for grocery shopping, recipe adjusting, meal planning, eating out in restaurants, and supplementation are clear and helpful. Dr. Lundell's "Inflammatory Quotient" food pyramid diagram is a simple way to represent the nutritional lifestyle changes necessary to prevent heart disease.

In summary, "The Cure for Heart Disease" is a worthwhile read and a healthful guideline for this American epidemic.

--Jennifer Muir Bowers, PhD, RD

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Life Changing April 6, 2008

By PJSChico

Format:Paperback

This book is absolutely life changing. I remember when eggs, butter, and meat (saturated fat and cholesterol) were blamed for heart disease. Now the truth is slowly coming out. Years ago I tried Atkins and lowered my cholesterol and triglycerides. My good cholesterol even increased. I confirmed in my own body that Atkins was right. Eating a high protein, animal based diet was a healthier choice. Well, Dr. Lundell takes over where Atkins left off, with the addition of fresh fruits as well. Read this book and share a copy with everyone you love. Its gonna be a long time (due to the profits of the statin drug companies) before you'll ever see any front page news that tells the truth about the cholesterol myth and its association with heart disease. Listen to Dr. Lundell. Enjoy!

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I don't want to be #3 September 7, 2007

By Scott Christensen

Format:Paperback

My Grandfather died at 43 - Heart Disease, My Dad died at 61 - Heart Disease. I am now 48 and do not want to be #3. The Cure for Heart Disease helped me understand that there are simple things that can make a significant difference in my health. I do not have to be part of the Heart Disease lottery. Genetics may matter but action is the key. I recomend this book to everyone, but particularly to those who have had a history of heart disease in the family. As Dr. Lundell says "Intelligence is the wise use of knowledge." Read this book!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Cure for Heart Disease: Truth Will Save a Nation March 18, 2008

By Valerie A. Starr

Format:Paperback

I found this book to be enthralling and I've bought more copies to give to friends and family. Anyone who is concerned about heart disease should READ THIS BOOK!! It will change your life.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars TRUTH WILL SAVE A NATION!! November 21, 2007

By Julie Wheeler

Format:Paperback

This is an amazing book! I have bought copies for all my family and friends. Dr. Lundell has given the world a book that is easy and fun to read with information on how to live longer and be healthy in easy everyday ways. I highly recommend this book to everyone! Thank you Dr. Lundell for your research and wisdom.