Prevent, Halt & Reverse Heart Disease: 109 Things You Can Do

by Joseph C. Piscatella, Barry A. Franklin

When your doctor delivers the news—you have heart disease, which afflicts one in three Americans (an estimated 81 million people)—you need exactly the kind of indispensable, plainspoken advice found in Prevent, Halt & Reverse Heart Disease. You need Joe Piscatella. A lay expert who’s been lecturing to health professionals and Fortune 500 corporations for three decades, and who is one of the longest-lived survivors of bypass surgery—32 years and counting—Piscatella shows how to take charge of one’s cardiac health in a bold yet simple, easily understandable way.

Created by Mr. Piscatella and Dr. Barry Franklin, one of the nation’s top cardiac rehab specialists, Prevent, Halt & Reverse Heart Disease was originally published in 2003 and is now completely revised and updated with the latest research on managing the #1 killer of American men and women. The book is divided into three sections: Cardiac Markers (10 of the most important risk factors are examined so that you can assess your risk and understand what the doctor is telling you); Life Skills (the 109 practical tips, from #3 increase your HDL level to #22 breathe deeply to #99 know your margarines to #109 floss your teeth); and Cardiac Basics (an explanation of contemporary tests and treatments). Throughout is information updated since the first edition, such as the recommended dose of baby aspirin per day, the importance of sleep, a smarter way to read food tables, the PLAC test, and more.

Genres: Health, Medical, Nonfiction

450 pages, Paperback

First published December 29, 2010

Reviews

[James Pritchert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book must have worked. I am in my 60s and still going strong. It was actually a really compelling read and I highly recommend it. I attended a presentation by the author and I subsequently read the book. After the presentation I spent a few minutes with author and I was enthralled enough to immediately devour the book.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

There wasn't anything really new in this book, but it organized the information really well and it reminded me of a number of things I should be doing more of (like breathing). I think that's the thing I liked the most - not that it gave me any kind of breakthrough, but it organized all the important things I need to do to be healthy and brought it all together.

[Philippa · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's a lot of good information in here but I found it very American so not as relevant to me, and fairly orthodox medically (e.g. statins are great - little nuance in this, or recognition of non-pharmaceutical health approaches).
It did include large sections on exercise, stress and diet, but there wasn't really anything new for me. The stress stuff was a good reminder. One thing that blocked the flow of reading was the overuse of references within the text to a gazillion studies of this, that and the next thing. Just bogged it down.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much information presented in a way that’s easy to read and understand. I had to purchase this author’s next book too. The table of contents and index make it easy to reference something later.

[Charlotte Falkner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really good stuff is the world of health is new to you. Desperately needs to be updated though.

[Gloria]

Have read quite a lot recently on heart health and diabetes. This book is the best of the lot featuring short, practical bits of information. Easy to read and navigate. Offers advice on getting the best info from a basic check-up to knowing what to expect during a health problem. Quite empowering and also holistic. Includes a lot of info on the role of stress, social support, etc. as well as the predictable diet and exercise info. This makes getting healthy relatively seem easy.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great approach to managing and avoiding heart disease. After the first section of assessing your risk, it has 3 more sections. First, managing stress, second, the importance of exercise and then thirdly, your diet. I really like the realistic approach of the dr. who wrote it and how readable it was. It was nice to take my time reading it, but after 3 months of renewing it from the library I decided it was time to share. :)

[John]

Question I have is the information reliable/is it spin/hype?