Heal Your Heart: How You Can Prevent or Reverse Heart Disease »

Dr. Gould describes how the heart works and how cardiovascular disease develops and progresses. He introduces readers to new non-invasive medical imaging technologies such as cardiac PET that may potentially provide early diagnoses for people who may be at risk. Extensive scientific references at the end of the book document Dr. Gould's conclusions. Dr. Gould demonstrates how patients and physicians can work together to conquer one of the relentless causes of disability and death. He explains what questions to ask medical staff and how to manage your own reversal program including your doctors, whether specialists or general practitioners. He also advises which cholesterol-lowering medications are safe and effective and when they should be prescribed. This reversal program may replace surgical or catheter procedures for treating cardiovascular disease in most patients. In some specific cases, some people may also need balloon dilation or bypass surgery. Dr. Gould furnishes the criteria used to identify the minority of patients who need them. For this minority, Dr. Gould's reversal program in addition to surgical treatment will provide optimal outcome by dramatically lowering the further risk. For most people, this program produces a sense of well-being and reduces or eliminates symptoms.

Dr. Gould is a pioneer of cardiovascular medicine who discovered fundamental concepts about the pathophysiology of coronary artery stenosis. His ideas have been ten to fifteen years ahead of their time. They now comprise our current knowledge of the pressure flow dynamics of coronary artery setnoses. The breadth of Dr. Gould's knowledge is astonishing: from theoretical fluid dynamics and experimental coronary physiology to clinical pathophysiology, form positron emission imaging and quantitative coronary angiography to medical economics and office practice of reversing heart disease- each step is innovative, logical, and carefully validated, and crosses subspecialty boundaries. Lance Gould has had not one but several great ideas, and the intellect, courage, and tenacity to validate them from concept to clinical application. —Ward Casscells, M.D., UT-Houston Medical School and Hermann Hospital, and James T. Willerson, M.D., UT-Houston Medical School, and editor, Circulation

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