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92 of 92 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Everyone over 35years old should read this book!, October 29, 2006
This review is from: Heart Frauds: Uncovering the Biggest Health Scam in History (Paperback)
I graduated medical school over 10 years ago, even then, Cardiothoracic surgeons and Cardiologists have always been at the top of the hiearchy in hospitals. This is due to both money and machismo. Several facts always troubled me; everything from the patients who had heart attacks despite normal cholesterol, to the inconsistent findings seen on angiogram, to the cognitive defects seen following surgery.
Well, McGee's book cites multiple studies showing there is little correlation between cholesterol and heart disease. Before reading the book, I had only read the studies justifying the use of statin drugs. It seemed strange to me that so much pathology was tied in to a molecule which is needed by your body to make hormones and components of brain tissue.
McGee points out lack of inter and intra-rater relliability in reading angiograms, which is used as the main study to determine what type of treatment will follow, the most invasive being open heart surgery. Well, it turns out that angioplasty and/or cardiac bypass don't prolong life.
Many cardiologists that I know have become wealthy using the following algorhythm: use statins to lower cholesterol. This doesn't work to decrease heart disease, so they probably won't lose them as patients. After a heart attack or the onset of angina, do an angiogram. Well, angiograms aren't reliable, so they can read into it whatever pathology they want. Eventually, they'll do an angioplasty based on an unreliable angiogram, this won't stop angina, so they'll throw in some stents. Eventually, the cardiologist will have billed all the procedures he can. Time to send them off to the heart surgeon. They'll get a 2-5 vessel bypass costing 50-100k. By this time the patient is probably broke. Despite all the worry, pain of getting procedures, and cost, the patient will have the same lifespan as he would have had had he stayed away from cardiologists (except perhaps in the acute phase of the heart attack).
What I tell my family members is stop smoking, eat a pound of fresh vegetables a day, lean meats with lots of oily fish, exercise at least 30 minutes most days of the week, take Vitamin B-6 to lower homocysteine, and when your doctor wants to measure your cholesterol, tell them "no thanks". Short of an acute infarct, stay away from cardiologists, especially the ones who describe themselves as "interventionalists", since invariably this will lead to a series of gradually more invasive procedures.
I didn't give 5 stars due to some of the cartoons in the book. I didn't think the cartoons fit in with the same scientific tone of the text.
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76 of 77 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent rebuttal of current cardiovascular treatment., May 10, 2006
This review is from: Heart Frauds: Uncovering the Biggest Health Scam in History (Paperback)
Dr. McGee has written a very informative book on the subject. Contrary to what the public is told; cardiovascular disease has rapidly declined over the past decades. And, the reduction in mortality is not due to improvement in medical technology but simply a boost in the public's intake of vitamin supplements including anti-oxidants such as vit. A, C, and E.
Dr. McGee is not a conspiracy theorist, but a well-established doctor who is more respectful of the scientific method than the medical establishment. He supports every single statement with scientific studies. At the end of the book, he discloses an excellent bibliography with a summary of the major studies he refers to in order to advance his arguments.
He uncovers how the AMA has ignored such scientific studies to advance the lucrative practice of bypass, angioplasty, and cholesterol lowering drug prescriptions. All those practices have made a lot of money for the medical establishment. But, they have not helped the public's health whatsoever.
The author indicates that the vast majority of bypass surgeries are unnecessary. Angiograms are helplessly inaccurate. There is a more accurate test (quantitative angioplasty) that is never used on patients outside of research studies. Cholesterol-lowering drugs are ineffective. Studies indicate they marginally reduce mortality rate due to cardiovascular disease; but boost overall death rates due to much higher cancer rates.
In the author's mind, the whole focus on cholesterol is misguided. Studies have not found a significant link between cholesterol and heart disease. He states that one should focus instead on oxidation by avoiding foods that contain oxidized fats (trans fats), taking anti-oxidant vitamin supplements, eating fresh fruits and vegetables. And, eating eggs is just fine. No study has shown any link between egg consumption and heart disease.
He also rebuts a few other myths. Stress is not nearly as bad as people think. Studies found no correlation between Type A temperament and cardiovascular disease. Also, the benefits of aerobic exercise are in the middle intensity zone. High intensity exercise (triathlon training) is not better for you than just walking at a moderate pace.
If you enjoyed this book, I also strongly recommend two others: Lynne McTaggart's "What Doctors Don't Tell You" and Nortin Hadler's "The Last Well Person." These two books cover not just cardiovascular diseases but just about every major ailment. The books messages converge. Western medicine is costly, overly invasive, and not always effective. The medical establishment compromised by commercial funding misinterprets scientific studies to protect its existing economic interest. Each author supports his opinion with referenced scientific studies. They all provide vital information on how to maintain your health and sanity while navigating the Western medical establishment that can be helpful, but not always.
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93 of 97 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Highly Recommended For Anyone Interested In Heart Disease!, October 12, 2002
This review is from: Heart Frauds: Uncovering the Biggest Health Scam in History (Paperback)
Charles T McGee presents a witty, often hilarious, and always to-the-point attack on the hugely profitable industry that has grown around heart disease.Mc Gee reviews the studies conducted to date on open heart surgery - many would be shocked to know that they have all failed to show any appreciable longevity benefit for those who undergo surgery compared to those who don't. McGee presents, with cutting wit, an example of a typical sales-like pitch on the benefits of open heart surgery often given to patients who have just had a heart attack. Patients are typically told they will be unlikely to live to see the next morning unless they undergo surgery right away. Studies examining the survival rate of patients who successfully choose to eschew surgery and opt for other means of addressing their illness reveal this pitiful sales pitch for the nonsense it truly is. It appears the only thing truly in danger if patients start refusing open heart operations is the ability of the surgeon to keep up the lease payments on his new Mercedes. McGee also presents a highly critical expose' of the field of angiogragphy. He reveals that the most effective form of angiogram has been typically confined to use in research settings, while the less effective version is the one commonly used in the clinical setting to make the all-important decision on whether or not to operate. McGee also takes a shot at the cholesterol theory. He highlights how the theory has it's origins in flawed animal experiments performed by Russian researchers at the beginning of the twentieth century, and then goes on to highlight the many other studies that have failed to show any benefit from cholesterol lowering. McGee doesn't just attack the medical industry and then run - he discusses low risk treatments like EDTA chelation therapy that are typically ignored by drug-obsessed mainstream medicine. The only flaw with the book is the author's praise for Dean Ornish and Nathan Pritikin, both who promoted spartan diets with unhealthy recommendations for unnaturally low fat intakes. Ornish, for example, published a study where the arteries of an intervention group reportedly widened in comparison to a group not recieving the intervention treatment. Ornish's treatment group recieved a multiple intervention treatment - excercise five days a week, smoking cessation, meditation and group counselling in addition to a low fat vegetarian diet. McGee claims those who highlight the fact that this was a multiple intervention are "missing the point". I totally disagree. Ornish used several different treatments in his intervention group but when speaking with journalists and writing for the public, talks as if the low fat diet was the decisive factor in his study. One cannot in good conscience make this claim when there is absolutely no proof to back it up - one of the most basic rules of science is to control your variables. All Ornish can claim from his study is that a MULTILPE intervention, encompassing all the tactics he used, was successful in widening arteries. We know that excercise can widen arteries, and that was one of the interventions Ornish used. There is no evidence a vegan diet can achieve this effect. Ornish should be honest enough to admit this, but instead he persistently bad mouths all but the most austere low fat diets. Unfortunately McGee fails to pick up on this, so I would recommend one keep this in mind whilst reading this section of the book. Heart Frauds' strong point is its' thorough discrediting of the entire heart disease industry, and the tactics used by this industry to ensure its continued future profitability. If you are a heart disease patient, or have a friend or loved one who has CHD, I would highly recommend this book. I would also recommend Uffe Ravnskov's "The Cholesterol Myths" , the best examination of the cholesterol issue I have read to date. Ravnskov's book also contains an enlightening discussion on the hugely popular statin drugs; McGee's book was written before the rise of these drugs.
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