The Last Heart Attack

One trait of this blog is brevity. I provide links to videos that are very short. But I encourage you to find 41 minutes to watch "The Last Heart Attack," hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Why?

Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States for men and women. Any new information or insights on preventing, diagnosing, evaluating or treating this disease can have great impact. 

The facts and graphics send a clear message about the science of preventing and reversing coronary heart disease. And Gupta does a good job of portraying the spectrum of risk factors, only some of which are modifiable.

The show highlights the contrast between high-tech surgical interventions that treat established disease and low-tech dietary interventions that prevent and treat disease.

Interviews with Bill Clinton provide a compelling success story that illustrates the feasability of making dramatic changes in your diet.

I was disappointed by the short-shrift given to the emotionally charged topic of economics and public policy.

I also wish at least a few sentences addressed the difficulty of complying with a vegan diet. The people interviewed described enjoying their new diet and having no trouble integrating the new diet into their social life. We'd do better to address the difficulties most people would have becoming vegan and how to narrow the gap between knowing this diet decreases the risk of heart disease and actually becoming a vegan.

 

 

[Note: the link is to Vegsource website, where you can find link to entire, commercial-free video.] 

Comments

[Lisa Cunningham]

I agree that becoming vegan is difficult because vegetables are not the cheapest things to eat. They also get overcooked and then no one wants to eat them. On the other hand, meat is pretty much gone from my diet because it has gotten so expensive. Even chicken isn't cheap anymore.

[Lisa Escaloni]

I watched this program when it aired a few nights ago on CNN after a vegan Facebook friend alerted me to it. I am encouraged to eat healthier but I realize that a completely vegan diet would be impractical for me. Just cutting back on animal products would be a step in the right direction. I would think people with no family history or big risk factors would not need a drastic vegan diet. Think of people our grandparents' ages who grew up on farms and whose diet consisted of lots of animal products and who lived to a ripe old age and may have had no heart disease at all. Back then we didn't have technology to look inside their bodies but is it possible that the physical labor on a farm kept them healthy? Maybe it's our sedentary lifestyles COMBINED with family history and poor diet that is the triple-threat for heart disease. Glad that unhealthy foods are being exposed in programs like this, unfortunately it seems the under-40 set doesn't pay attention. What do you do when your 20-something son who lives away at college and doesn't eat vegetables and loves, loves, loves red meat? Hope he marries a health nut!

[Richard Gill]

"We'd do better to address the difficulties most people would have becoming vegan and how to narrow the gap between knowing this diet decreases the risk of heart disease and actually becoming a vegan." For a practical, informative guide on exactly this issue, I've been following another of my favorite health & quality of life blogs, "Happy Healthy Long Life" at . The curent post of this blog by a medical librarian addresses this specific topic.

I've been using the information in this blog over the past year to achieve a very significant improvement in markers of cardiac health as well as overall health and quality of life. I can't recommend it enough.

[Wendy S. Harpham, MD]

Dear Richard,
We are of like minds. I, too, follow the Happy Healthy Long Life blog. That's where I found the link to the commercial-free video. With hope, Wendy

[Richard Gill]

Funny how synchronicity works sometimes, right?

As soon as I saw your reply to my earlier comment, lo and behold, our favorite blog from "a medical librarian's adventures in evidence-based living" popped up with a new post. She is delving further into the conversation started by Dr. Sanjay Gupta with his "The Last Heart Attack" presentation.

I sense a tipping point in the health care provider community. I hope this momentum will bring more providers to find the courage to re-examine their approach to addressing nutrition and life choices as moderators of the so-called "diseases of affluence" suffered by so many in this country.

Thanks for adding your much respected voice to the dialogue!

[Lori]

We just happened to turn on the TV after returning home late last night and, lo and behold, caught this special, which was particularly meaningful since David had a heart attack almost two years ago. He used to be a vegan, and both of us were vegetarians for years until we started eating chicken again. We're inspired now to go back to eating more legumes and less fish/chicken.
Thanks for drawing attention to this.
Lori Hope
www.lorihope.com