The Heart Disease Breakthrough

Thomas Yannios

Description

What even your doctor may not know about the real heart attack risk factors and what you can do to prevent heart disease now.

You count your cholesterol, monitor your fat and sodium consumption, and get regular exercise. But consider these facts: Many people who have heart attacks have cholesterol counts below 200. Low-fat diets can actually raise the heart attack risk in some people. And the wrong kind of exercise can do your heart more harm than good. Now for the good news: You can do something about it, and this book shows you how.

Recent research has revealed that the real risks are a combination of factors that you-and your doctor-may never have heard of, including the crucial differences between cholesterol types and much, much more. In The Heart Disease Breakthrough, Thomas Yannios, M.D., explains the state-of-the-art medical research and the science behind the latest breakthroughs in testing, diagnosis, nutrition, and exercise. And he presents a clear, easy-to-follow 10-step program for counteracting your individual risk factors and attaining optimum heart health.

"For those seriously concerned a with preventing heart disease, this is your guide: detailed, current, strongly worded guidelines. Yannios. . . isn't interested in cushioning the facts or the remedies in a feel-good framework. . . . Guidelines are set out here involving diet, weight control, exercise, and medication. Yannios doesn't let readers off easily, but that doesn't mean he can't offer realistic help: for instance, practically every cardiac risk factor can be countered by exercise; it just has to be the right type of exercise. Heart disease prevention is among the fastest-advancing medical research areas, with new, often conflicting recommendations being published daily. For those at serious risk, this is an understandable, serious, and worthwhile approach." - Kirkus Reviews
UNDERSTANDING YOUR RISK FOR HEART DISEASE.

The Heart Disease Surprise: There Is No Immunity.

Heart Disease Begins in Childhood.

Fatal Markers.

It's Not Just Your Cholesterol Count That Matters.

Test Your Own Risk: A Quiz.

THE HEART DISEASE PREVENTION PROGRAM FOR YOUR TYPE.

Step One: Get All Your Blood Tests--Not Just Total Cholesterol.

Step Two: Determine Your Individual Genetic Risk Profile.

Step Three: Find Out Your LDL Level and LDL Subclass.

Step Four: Find Out Your HDL (Good Cholesterol) Profile.

Step Five: Discover Your Lp (a) Level.

Step Six: Understanding Your Blood-Clotting System.

Step Seven: Change Your Diet Now.

Step Eight: Lose Weight Now.

Step Nine: Get on an Exercise Program Now.

Step Ten: Consider the Right Medication for Your Type.

Afterword.

Appendix.

Glossary.

Sources: Recent Studies of Heart Disease and Lipid Profiles.

Index.

Sujets

• Santé et bien-être
• Santé du quotidien
• Santé au quotidien
• Santé au quotidien
• Fitness
• Heart
• Health
• Diseases

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 24 août 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780470254721
• Langue: English

Extrait

For those seriously concerned with preventing heart disease, this is your guide: detailed, current, strongly worded guidelines. Yannios, associate director of critical care and nutritional support at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, N.Y., isn t interested in cushioning the facts or the remedies in a feel-good framework . His horrifying case stories are successfully designed to propel readers into action, and he backs them up with the grim facts: most Americans already heave well-advanced atherosclerosis by their twenties; low-fat diets can actually raise cholesterol and increase risk in certain groups of people ; more than half the people who have heart attacks have total cholesterol levels under 200. So the remedy for those in peril, according to Yannios, takes some real work: assess your own risk; then, with the help of a physician, take advantage of the newest blood tests and make a stringent action plan. Guidelines are set out here involving diet, weight control, exercise, and medication. Yannios doesn t let readers off easily, but that doesn t mean he can t offer realistic help: for instance, practically every cardiac risk factor can be countered by exercise; it just has to be the right type of exercise. Heart disease prevention is among the fastest-advancing medical research areas, with new, often conflicting recommendations being published daily. For those at serious risk, this is an understandable, serious, and worthwhile approach.
- Kirkus Reviews
THE HEART DISEASE BREAKTHROUGH
The 10-Step Program That Can Save Your Life
Thomas Yannios, M.D.

John Wiley Sons, Inc.
New York Chichester Weinheim Brisbane Singapore Toronto
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright 1999 by Thomas Yannios. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley Sons, Inc.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone]. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158-0012, [phone], fax [phone], E-Mail: [e-mail].
The information contained in this book is not intended to serve as a replacement for professional medical advice. Any use of the information in this book is at the reader s discretion. The author and the publisher specifically disclaim any and all liability arising directly or indirectly from the use or application of any information contained in this book. A health care professional should be consulted regarding your specific situation.
ISBN 0-471-35309-4
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
To my parents,
Susan and Christos Yannios,
for inspiring a humanity strong enough
to withstand the cyborg age
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
PART ONE: UNDERSTANDING YOUR RISK FOR HEART DISEASE
1 The Heart Disease Surprise: There Is No Immunity
2 Heart Disease Begins in Childhood
3 Fatal Markers
4 It s Not Just Your Cholesterol Count That Matters
5 Test Your Own Risk: A Quiz
PART TWO: THE HEART DISEASE PREVENTION PROGRAM FOR YOUR TYPE
One: Take Advantage of the Newest Blood Tests
6 Step One: Get All Your Blood Tests-Not Just Total Cholesterol
7 Step Two: Determine Your Individual Genetic Risk Profile
8 Step Three: Find Out Your LDL Level and LDL Subclass
9 Step Four: Find Out Your HDL (Good Cholesterol) Profile
10 Step Five: Discover Your Lp(a) Level
11 Step Six: Understanding Your Blood-Clotting System
Two: The Action Plan
12 Step Seven: Change Your Diet Now
13 Step Eight: Lose Weight Now
14 Step Nine: Get on an Exercise Program Now
15 Step Ten: Consider the Right Medication for Your Type
Afterword
Appendix: Women and Estrogen-Yes or No?
Glossary
Sources: Recent Studies of Heart Disease and Lipid Profiles
Index
Preface
Heart disease is not a problem for just a few people. Rather, it is a human condition that starts in childhood and afflicts all of us. And the factors that predispose us to having milder or more severe cases are the product of a complex interaction between genes and behavior.
Doctors and cardiologists no longer issue blanket advice to everyone, because we now know that in preventing heart disease, everyone is different. You can t do anything about your genes, but science has armed us with tremendous power to predict how those genes will affect you, and what lifestyle changes you can make to limit their power to cause disease.
Atherosclerosis will not disappear on its own, and no doctor, however well informed, can make it disappear for you. The earlier you adopt healthy habits, the better-it s easier to melt away plaque in a younger person than it is later on, and habits adopted when you are young will serve for a lifetime. You can also play an essential role by gathering information about yourself that might reveal how susceptible you are to heart disease. Many of the tests described in this book won t even be done unless you ask for them.
Atherosclerosis is closely tied to almost every other aspect of your body s functioning-how you digest food, how and where you store fat, how fast your muscles fire, how quickly your blood clots, how avidly your cells consume sugar, and so on. Taking a magic anticholesterol pill or going on the latest celebrity diet isn t going to change the way your body functions. Instead, you must become an active participant in your health care by arming yourself with the knowledge that will help you give yourself the chance to lead a healthy and active life well into old age.
Acknowledgments
This book is the product of extensive research, ongoing experience with patients, and the educational experiences provided by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. In particular, the workshops, conferences, and seminars presented by the American College of Cardiology and the Berkeley Heart Lab have given me the opportunity to interact with some of the foremost developers of our new understanding of heart disease. I wish to particularly acknowledge the contributions and guidance by Drs. Robert Superko and Ronald Krauss and their enthusiastic and dedicated teams of researchers and clinical associates. These people are in the forefront of forging the newest concepts of the mechanisms of heart disease and the preventative treatment options these mechanisms imply. In particular, they have been instrumental in uncovering the role of LDL particle types in the process of atherosclerosis and the impact of genetic variations of metabolism on proper nutrition.
A book like this doesn t just magically materialize out of a cloud of esoteric information, however. A highly complex and lengthy original manuscript was transformed into a final version largely through the help of Nick Bakalar, who was able to understand the material and resynthesize it. His accomplishment is very impressive, and I will be forever grateful. And credit is due to my senior editor, Tom Miller, at Wiley, whose determined vision of what this book should be sculpted its final form.
My special thanks to Amy Semerad for her thorough and often frenzied word processing of multiple versions of the text, to Amy Olinsky for the graphics, and to my wife, Edith, for her support through what was at times a monstrous task of organizing a half dozen disparate worlds of science into a coherent picture.
Part One:
UNDERSTANDING YOUR RISK FOR HEART DISEASE
1

The Heart Disease Surprise: There Is No Immunity
If you opened this book, you or someone close to you has concerns about heart disease. And you re right to be worried: Heart disease and its related problems will end the lives of more people than all the other diseases in the world combined. One of the reasons is that despite all the talk about this disease, despite all the advice handed out freely by doctors and laymen alike, most people still are unaware of how to avoid it. And avoid it you can. If you are properly armed with the latest information, heart disease is almost completely preventable.
Here s a short quiz to determine how sophisticated your knowledge of heart disease really is. Which of the following statements are true, and which are false? The process of atherosclerosis, which causes heart disease, begins at about the age of forty, so you only have to be careful from then on. The first rule for preventing heart disease, which everyone should follow, is eating a low-fat diet. Thirty minutes of moderate exercise accumulated over the length of the day, every day, will significantly reduce your risk for coronary artery disease. If you keep your cholesterol level below 200, you will be fairly safe from getting a heart attack. There are two different kinds of cholesterol, and you have to know both levels to determine your risk.
Although most people-even sophisticated people who are aware of medical facts-don t know it, every one of these statements is false. In the last few years, research has made substantial progress in uncloaking heart disease s secret code as it applies to each individual. In doing so, we have exposed some myths. Here is the real story: The process of atherosclerosis begins in childhood, and in most Americans it is well advanced by the time they are in their twenties. Low-fat diets can actually raise cholesterol and increase risk in certain groups of people. And a good low-fat diet for one person can actually be harmful for another. Thirty minutes of moderate exercise in several short stretches during the day will do almost no