An AARP Guide: Living with Heart Disease: Everything You Need to Know to Safeguard Your Health and Take Control of Your Life [Paperback]

This book is good start if you're just trying to get an idea of what heart disease is, how it's treated, and what you or your loved one can do to combat it.

Much of the information is in my opinion too basic. Not smoking should be a no-brainer.

I have heart disease and a stent. I've been self treating this condition for several years now through diet and supplements. I've had some successes and failures, although my health overall has improved drastically since I started. I've looked at several books on heart disease in terms of how to best treat it and I have to say that, once you get beyond the basic level, this book in a few places is outright misleading.

For example, the author repeatedly states that you should "try to limit" your intake of trans fats. Perhaps the author is trying to be understanding to the fact that trans fat is so common in American pre-packaged foods. Still no excuse. It's probably not possible, but you should try to eliminate ALL trans fat. This is a man-made fat that has zero food value and is harmful to any body with or without heart disease.

It's this lowest common denominator mentality that I find the most disturbing with this book. The author pushes prescribed drugs while making over the counter alternatives like niacin (used to treat high cholesterol) sound downright unpleasant.

The author writes that it has a "high number of side effects" and most people experience hot flashes. Not necessarily true at all. There are multiple forms of of niacin. The most effective kind that should not cause flushing is called "sustained release" and you take 1 500mg pill 3x a day. Read Robert Kowalski's "The New 8 Week Cholesterol Cure" for more information.

This warning away from niacin is extremely troubling given the lax view on trans fat. Why be negative about using niacin while not being more forceful about eliminating from your diet what is essentially a poison? It makes no sense.

I also couldn't find anything in this book about pantothenic acid. If you have high triglycerides then you need to know about this natural remedy. On my first blood test my number was through the roof. After taking pantotheic acid my number wasn't just well below acceptable, it was more better than when I was taking the Lipitor my doctor had pushed on me!

You don't want to rush out there and use "alternative" methods haphazardly. As Kowalski points out in his book, some herbal remedies are outright dangerous for heart disease patients.

The problem is that doctors treat us like children. They don't expect us to stop eating trans fat. They don't except us to change our diet. So they throw pills at us and scare us away from readily available cheaper alternatives.

Unfortunately, as good as this book is at explaining the basics, it's just more of the same of this rather unhealthy approach to treating heart disease.

I agree with the comments of the other reviewers with the addition
that the author does not even mention Dean Ornish and his treatment program

I HAVE HAD TRIPLE BYPASS AND AM NOW SCHEDULED FOR EEPC STARTING 07/30/2007 FOR 7 WEEKS WHICH IS NON INVASIVE. MY DRS RECOMMENDED AND THE
BOOK ON THE SUBJECT BY BRAVERMAN FOCUSED ON ITS ADVANTAGES. I OBTAINED THIS BOOK FROM AMAZON ALSO AND IT IS JUST WHAT I NEEDED. I RETURNED THE
TWO PREVIOUSLY DELIVERED BOOKS WHICH CONTAINED NONE OF THE INFORMATION I HAD HOPED FOR. THANK YOU, JAMES G. CARLOCK

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