n this featured segment, Dr. Lundell’s message, one he has been sharing for over six years, is clear and to the point: Cholesterol Does Not Cause Heart Disease.

While traditional mainstream medicine, physicians and pharmaceutical industry continue to insist cholesterol must be controlled by medication, Dr. Lundell marches to a very different drummer and perspective having performed 5,000 heart surgeries spanning 25 years.

Dr. Lundell had one goal when he dedicated his life to healing the human heart and that was to see an end to heart disease in his lifetime.   As the years went by and the number of heart surgeries he performed escalated annually, he grew increasingly troubled by what he saw in every patient on his operating table.

Each patient had noticeable inflammation in the arteries of their hearts and more than half had normal cholesterol levels.  When he approached his colleagues with his growing concern medicine was chasing the wrong cause of heart disease, his words were met with derision and seen as heresy.

An unusual physician in today’s world, he took a most unusual approach by leaving his surgical practice in 2003 to open a clinic where his theory that inflammation caused heart disease could be tested.   The results of his clinical testing in patient after patient confirmed that without the presence of underlying inflammation, cholesterol would not become trapped in the artery wall.

Inflammation Traps Cholesterol In The Artery Wall

Let’s be clear on what this means.  Reducing the amount of cholesterol in the body through medication will not prevent cholesterol from becoming trapped; rather, reducing the amount of inflammation will free cholesterol to flow throughout the arteries and body as nature intended.  That subtle, yet significant difference is enormous.

For over forty years, Americans have felt tremors of fear upon receiving the news their blood indicates “high cholesterol” translated to, they are on the verge of heart disease.  As we reach for the prescription being handed to us, we rarely question adding statin medication.   It is time we do.

Through the years we became thoroughly convinced cholesterol caused heart disease from our physicians, our government and masterful marketing over truth in medicine as is seen nightly on TV commercials for Crestor and Lipitor.

Cholesterol is not evil and as science shows, decreasing cholesterol through medication has dangerous side effects for our cognitive functioning.  Cholesterol is a vital substance to human life yet this tragic theory stays front and center as the cause of heart disease.  Let’s look at a few facts.

National Cholesterol Education Program

In 2001, the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) revised their guidelines by lowering the cholesterol level seen as dangerously high.  That substantial lowering placed 36 million more Americans in the category of requiring statin medication.  Profits soared for statin mediation.

In the melee that followed, it was discovered  of the nine members on the panel that wrote the new cholesterol lowering guidelines, six received research grants, speaking or consulting fees from at least three and in some cases all five of the manufacturers of statins; only one had no financial links at all.

For the year 2007-2008, The American Heart Association received $1,160,000 from Crestor’s manufacturer, AstraZeneca; $2,629,116 from Lipitor’s manufacturer, Pfizer and $3,053,470 from Zocor’s manufacturer, Merck & Co.  That’s a lot of funding for the AHA.  Could there be a conflict of interest concern visà-vi the AHA’s advice on statin medication and managing heart disease?

Inflammation, The Silent Killer

On the other hand, there isn’t a prescription to help lower inflammation.  Inflammation is neither mysterious nor complicated yet the damage it causes running amok coined an apt term for inflammation  – the silent killer.

In The Great Cholesterol Lie, you’ll learn how dietary recommendations born of the faulty cholesterol theory steered a nation of people away from real, wholesome foods in favor of low fat packaged foods laced with sugar and Omega-6 oils creating an epidemic of inflammation.  Why?  The human body’s response to the low fat regime is inflammation and an obesity epidemic.

Understanding what caused inflammation to escalate throughout our bodies and learning how to bring it under control is now Dr. Dwight Lundell’s role in medicine as thoroughly explained in his book.

For the last six years, Dr. Lundell has written books and articles, given speeches, radio shows interviews and created preventative health care programs for businesses.  His mission today is to expose the truth that by treating inflammation, heart disease can be prevented and reversed.

The “Living in Style” television series offers uncommon insight into a variety of topics to educate and tackle life’s daily challenges with valuable information.  Check your local listings

Remember the last time you scraped your knee? As it healed, it grew red and warm, sometimes leaking pus. That was inflammation at work. Whenever there’s an injury to any part of your body, the flow of blood increases as white blood cells rush to the area like rescue workers responding to a train wreck. Ironically, this very process can also damage tissue.

What does inflammation have to do with heart disease? As it turns out, plenty. When the lining of the artery is damaged — say, when LDL particles burrow into the artery wall — white blood cells flock to the site, resulting in inflammation.

Thus, more LDL equals more inflammation. Inflammation not only further damages the artery walls, leaving them stiffer and more prone to plaque buildup, but it also makes any plaque that’s already there more fragile and more likely to burst. Other factors that damage the artery wall and trigger inflammation include smoking, high blood pressure, and even germs.

How do you know if your arteries are inflamed? By testing your level of C-reactive protein (CRP), which is produced in the liver whenever inflammation occurs. If your arteries are under attack, your CRP level rises.

An estimated 25 million to 35 million healthy middle-aged Americans with normal cholesterol have CRP levels that put them at higher risk of heart attack and stroke.

In a landmark study on CRP and heart disease, researchers at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital measured CRP levels in 1,086 apparently healthy men. They followed the men over the next eight years, tracking heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots.

The result: The risk of a first heart attack rose fivefold when both cholesterol and CRP were high.

Researchers involved in the Harvard Women’s Health Study reported similar results, noting that women with the highest levels of CRP had a sevenfold increase in risk of heart attack or stroke.

Even if they didn’t smoke, had normal cholesterol levels, and had no family history of heart disease, the women with high CRP were still more likely to have a heart attack or stroke. And a study published in late 2002 found that women with high CRP were twice as likely to die from a heart attack or stroke as those with high cholesterol.

It’s important to note that these studies involved healthy people. For those with a known cause of inflammation — such as rheumatoid arthritis or an active infection — CRP may not be a reliable indication of heart disease risk.

CRP may function as a marker of inflammation in the blood vessels, but it also can play a direct role in damaging the arteries by interfering with an enzyme involved in nitric oxide production.

As you learned earlier, less nitric oxide means artery walls that attract more plaque-forming gunk. CRP also seems to be a marker for metabolic syndrome, another risk factor.

Another marker of inflammation is a molecule called interleukin-18 (IL-18). A four-year German study on patients with coronary heart disease found that those with high levels of this molecule were three times as likely to die from heart disease as those with low levels.

Earlier studies had linked high levels of IL-18 to quicker buildup of plaque and more unstable plaque. The results are still preliminary, researchers warn, and the test for IL-18 is too complex for the typical doctor’s office.

Still, given the evidence on CRP and IL-18, doctors now suspect that inflammation plays such a powerful role in heart disease that it trumps even high cholesterol as a risk factor — although you can’t treat one and ignore the other, because they are linked.

LDL increases inflammation, and inflammation generates free radicals, which oxidize the LDL particles and accelerate the formation of plaque. Many of the same factors that increase inflammation — such as obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome — also increase cholesterol.

RD Heart Disease Risk Factor

Reported widely by the New York Times, the Associated Press, the Washington Post, CNN, and Time, among others is attributable to the marketing strategy of Crestor’s manufacturer, AstraZenca rather than any significance in the findings.

The JUPITER Study

Before anyone rushes to add statin drugs to lower the risk of heart attacks when their heart shows no sign of disease, let’s take a close look at the findings for they reveal a more important discovery, one I saw in 5,000 heart surgery patients, inflammation, the real cause of heart disease.

The study intended to assess whether prescribing statin therapy to apparently healthy individuals with normal LDL cholesterols but elevated C-reactive protein levels (CRP 2.0 mg/L) was advisable. C-reactive protein is a marker that determines the level of inflammation in the body.

1.9 Years, 17,802 Men And Women

To qualify for the study patients had to be apparently healthy, have normal cholesterol but with an elevated CRP.   Over 1.9 years, 17,802 men over 60 and women over 50 were treated with one-half receiving 20 mg. of Crestor daily and the other half receiving a placebo. AstraZenica, the manufacturer of Crestor, funded the study when Pfizer declined to do so.

As many noted after release of the findings, even though patients were classified as healthy, many had a number of cardiovascular risk factors such as overweight with the median body-mass index (BMI) of 28.3 kg/m^2. It would be unfair to say these patients had no other risk factors.

Very few individuals have ideal risk factors, including LDL-cholesterol levels. Many have suggested ideal LDL-cholesterol levels, based on hunter-gatherer societies and non-human primates are likely in the range of 50 to 60 mg/dL.

The benefit to treatment of patients as well as any changes to public-health policy depends on the absolute benefit and not the relative risk reduction. This is very important in assessing the significance of the results. The risk of having a heart attack in the placebo group was 1.8%. The risk in the group treated with Crestor was .09% for a real reduction of .9% also called the absolute risk deduction.

Conclusion

While this is a 50% reduction in relative risk, the actual real difference is less than 1%. This does not mean 50% reduced the risk of heart disease as many headlines stated. [emphasis added]

Despite the marketing madness that went on across the internet, media, radio and news stations attesting to the magnificence of the findings, only one person out of 120 patients treated over 1.9 years avoided a heart attack.  I want to repeat that for emphasis-only one person out of 120 avoided a heart attack.

If it takes treating 120 people with a drug to prevent one heart attack, there is nothing in this study to generate this much excitement or use statin therapy preventatively unless you are the drug company anticipating astronomical sales.

New England Journal Of Medicine

Dr. Mark Hlatky reporting in the New England Journal of Medicine, wrote, “The relative risk reductions achieved with the use of statin therapy in JUPITER were clearly significant.  How the absolute difference in risk are more clinically important than relative reductions in risk in deciding whether to recommend drug therapy since the absolute benefits of treatment must be large enough to justify the associated risks and costs.

The proportion of participants with hard cardiac events in JUPITER was reduced from 1.8% (157 of 8,901 subjects) in the placebo group to .09% (83 of 8,901 subjects) in the rosuvastatin group; thus, 120 participants were treated for 1.9 years to prevent one event.” [emphasis added]

The Exorbitant Cost

The cost for treating 120 people with Crestor is $3.45 a day or $266,616.00 for 1.9 years-an  exorbitant amount of money to prevent one event.

In addition to this cost, there would be the cost of 2,520 doctor’s visits with 2,520 cholesterol tests. What JUPITER revealed is only one person avoided a heart attack and there were significant side effects in the increase in people who developed diabetes and other complications.

The patients all began with normal cholesterol and markers for inflammation.  The finding in the study that has far more significance is the reduction shown in inflammation. Cholesterol in the patients began within normal range so reducing it further is not the reason there was a small reduction in risk; rather, the reduction in inflammation was accountable for the small difference in heart attack rates.

I am all in favor of prevention and do not want anyone to have a heart attack but once again, medicine, under the influence of  drug companies, takes the wrong and most expensive approach. AstraZenica stock is up 45% since the news and they expect to double the sales of Crestor from 3 billion to 6 billion dollars annually in the next few years-great news if you hold the stock, not so great for really preventing heart disease or controlling costs of health care.

Let’s Be Truthful

If Astra were honest, they would ask the FDA for permission to market Crestor as an anti-inflammatory for the blood vessels-a much better use of statin drugs but expensive. Although this study showed only a small benefit, it does re-confirm that inflammation is the cause of heart disease. The cholesterol theory, while exceedingly false, is the dogma of the day and it is time for truth and fact in medicine.

There are alternatives to statin therapy to reduce inflammation and in turn, prevent and cure heart disease; alternatives that do not involve drug therapy and yet have a higher absolute reduction in cardiac deaths. The medical community fails to acknowledge the simple alternatives that are much more effective than drugs, less remunerative of course, but with astounding reductions in cardiac deaths through treating inflammation.

Alternatives

The DART trial showed a 62% reduction in cardiac deaths by taking fish oil.  Fish oil has proven repeatedly to reduce CRP and other signs of inflammation.  Another trial, The Physicians Healthy Study showed a 90% reduction in sudden cardiac death with fish oil; once again, not risk but actual reduction. Another, the GISSI trial, showed an absolute reduction in deaths by taking fish oil and a 47% reduction in sudden cardiac deaths.  These are not risk numbers but real reductions.

The most significant and overlooked results of the JUPITER study that confirms the findings in DART, GISSI and The Physicians Health Study is that the reduction in inflammation was responsible for decreasing the risk of heart disease. The patients’ all had normal cholesterol when the study began; reduction in cholesterol was not responsible for the small decrease in risk.

As a physician who performed 5,000 heart surgeries and saw inflammation in the arteries of every patient, it is maddening when medicine ignores simple things such as fish oil that are much more effective than drugs.  In terms of cost, the simple alternatives that are highly effective range from $50 to $100 per month.

There is no comparison to health, or to the wallet, in terms of these alternatives and the exorbitant cost of statin therapy for cholesterol when cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease.  However, it is noteworthy there is a benefit to statin therapy in that it has some impact upon inflammation but at a much higher cost than fish oil.

Treat inflammation and the absolute risk of heart disease not only decreases, heart disease is preventable and curable.

To get my free report, Inflammation, The Fire within, simply enter your name and email address at the top of the blog.

Dr. Dwight Lundell

Yet again, more evidence mounts that cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease. If we but accept all this proof, it becomes clear taking cholesterol-lowering medication is a colossal waste of time, money and human suffering from side effects produced by statin medications.

The latest evidence is a new study in the American Heart Journal published in January, 2009.   This new study tested the cholesterol of heart attack patients admitted to 500 hospitals. The disturbing new findings reveal:

· 75% of those patients had LDL-cholesterol levels below the current guidelines of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) of 130 milligrams.
· 50% had LDL-cholesterol levels below 100 milligrams.
· 17% had LDL-cholesterol levels below 70 milligrams, which is the new, more stringent guidelines.

How Much Lower Must We Go Before Admitting  There Is No
Correlation Between Lowering Cholesterol And Heart Attack Risk?

One would think the overwhelming evidence that lowering cholesterol levels fails to prevent heart disease would be sufficient for a new focus. One would also think a scientist would be willing to re-examine a theory when the evidence against that theory is decidedly inaccurate.

Instead, the response from the American Heart Association sponsored researchers is to lower acceptable cholesterol levels even more resulting in countless people beginning statin medications unnecessarily.

This demonstrates once again the powerful success marketers of cholesterol-lowering medications have achieved. Their influence upon Physicians, government agencies and professional bodies leaves no one daring to question the cholesterol theory without fearing ridicule and risking professional suicide.

I am left with the utmost sadness their influence leaves intelligent and caring Physicians no longer giving needed thought to what really causes heart disease or how to prevent it. Instead, they have become convinced that cholesterol-lowering drugs are the answer despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Let’s use this study to our best advantage by stimulating an open-mindedness with questions and dialog about the cholesterol theory. Let’s get to the real cause and get serious about preventing unnecessary disease and death. Let’s re-examine the validity of the old science and examine the overwhelming evidence in today’s science. The latter provides the answer.

Dwight Lundell, M.D.

Book Review

Miami, FL (PRWEB) March 20, 2009 — With over 25% of the aking statin medications – and with many being urged to do so preventatively – thoracic surgeon Dr. Dwight Lundell’s new book, “The Great Cholesterol Lie.”

The need for this information is greater than ever as indicated by a recent on-line promotion of the book that brought sales throughout the USA and in 17 countries worldwide.

Dr. Lundell’s new book is based on his vast experience as a cardiac surgeon who performed over 5,000 open-heart surgeries spanning a quarter of a century. Says Dr. Lundell, “Most of the surgeries could have been easily prevented had the patients been given the right information about what causes heart disease.”

Much of the conventional wisdom in treating heart disease is based on a study that lacked scientific fact known as the “The Framingham Study” that began in 1948. This group of scientists and researches believed they stumbled on the cause of heart disease, cholesterol–a theory that has stuck and held throughout six decades despite overwhelming science to the contrary.

As Dr. Lundell states, “It is maddening that medicine has continued to chase and endorse the cholesterol theory while heart diseased continued to soar during my 25 years performing surgeries. I wanted to see heart disease cured rather than patched. By treating inflammation, the heart will heal.”

Dr. Lundell’s book shows how inflammation is responsible for heart disease and numerous other illnesses such as diabetes. It also shows how simple dietary changes and supplements can replace ineffective cholesterol drugs, where to find them, and how to avoid buying so-called “supplements” which are little better than placebos.

The book details how low-fat and no fat foods created from the cholesterol theory are the very foods that are the cause of an epidemic of inflammation and obesity.

He explains foods that cause the greatest harm and foods that reduce inflammation giving heart disease sufferers a new lease on life with the ability to live healthy, energetic and disease-free lives.

He even details an “eating out” guide showing how to eat in restaurants and fast food establishments safely without risking more inflammation.

In a recent online-only promotion, “The Great Cholesterol Lie” sold throughout the USA and in 17 countries worldwide. At http://greatcholesterollie.com there are rave reviews from grateful readers, many of whom found his book to literally be a life-saver.

Dr. Lundell is now releasing the book worldwide in downloadable form so that its lifesaving advice can be made available to anyone around the world who needs it instantly.’

By Christy Golfeder, liveadeliciouslife.com

Is your doctor constantly harping on your cholesterol levels? Does he want to put you on statin drugs to control it or are you already on one? Do you eat low-fat foods, eschew animal products, and pray that you won’t die of a heart attack?

You’ve been duped.

The Great Cholesterol Lie is an in-depth account of the heart disease epidemic. It begins with the studies that proposed the cholesterol hypothesis, which led to another study that made fat the enemy. Ultimately, it shows how this misinformation changed the way the U.S. government, medical community and pharmaceutical industry propagated the so-called “heart-healthy” low-fat diet.

The scary thing is that they were all wrong. More Americans are dying from heart disease than ever before.

But it has nothing to do with cholesterol. Inflammation is the culprit for heart disease – as well as many other serious diseases.

If you eat SAD (standard American diet) foods, you’re likely to have inflammation. Fortunately, it is easy to reverse – all you need to do is take a simple test to find out if you have inflammation and change your diet. The Great Cholesterol Lie gives you a comprehensive explanation of which nutrients you need to get into your diet now, and how they will help you douse the flames burning in your body.

“The Great Cholesterol Lie”

If you’re looking to prevent heart disease, whether there’s a history in your family, or if you’ve been diagnosed and warned of the imminent dangers you face – heart disease has a cure. Heart disease does not have to be a death sentence. You can beat it without harmful medications and painful, risky surgery.

+ How 41% of ALL deaths in America could be prevented easily, simply, and virtually cost-free!

+ Why lowering your cholesterol intake is not helping lower your risk of heart attack… and may actually be doing you more harm!

+ How to recognize the signs of a heart attack… and the best course of action to ensure you survive!

+ The devastation being wreaked upon our nation’s health – and healthcare system – by the USDA’s “Food Pyramid”!

+ The fallacy of a low-fat diet – where the idea came from, the results of the experiment, and what needs to be done to overcome it!

commonheartproblems.com

Are You Scrubbing Your Arteries Until They Are Raw And Inflamed?

I’ve read a few descriptions about the ultimate chaos that high blood sugar levels can cause.  But none have really said it as well as the following articles

The message is so important for everyone to know – us athletes and our families as well.

What does it mean specifically for us? Certainly you can be liberal with the carbs immediately before and during your workouts. Just as important, take full advantage of your “glycogen window” immediately after a workout. The first 30 minutes are key. That’s the time when your muscles are primed for glycogen repletion. A 3g to 4g carb to 1g protein ratio has been shown to maximally replenish your glycogen stores inside the glycogen window.

Beyond this time frame encompassing your workouts, I think it is extremely important you heed the following message. Do not live your entire day in a carbo-loading state.

Take it to heart and pass the message on…
bicyclingblogger.com/2009/02/are-you-scrubbing-your-arteries-until.html

The Great Cholesterol Lie

The Great Cholesterol Lieby Dr. Dwight Lundell
Health/Body

Review by Tally Green
thenewbookreview.blogspot.com/2009/04/great-cholesterol-lie.html

That’s the question -Why are we still faced with an epidemic of heart disease that will kill more than half of our population? Dr. Lundell witnessed heart disease; he held it in his hands a quarter century after performing over 5,000 open heart surgeries.

While he was saving lives for many years he also wrestled with what he saw in the arteries of every patient-inflammation. The question he asked himself was why was inflammation present?

This book is about a dedicated heart surgeon, Dr. Dwight Lundell. He wrote this book for the people, our hearts, our life’s for us to act on the knowledge and share this information with our loved ones, friends, etc. We need to tell as many about the truth so we can save as many life’s as possible. The book helped me to understand the reason people develop and die from heart disease. If only I knew what I just found out I would have been able to help some of my family and friends that have passed away as a result of heart disease. I thought high cholesterol was the cause of heart related diseases.

Now I see the real cause is inflammation-not cholesterol. This is inflammation you have swelling, redness, heat and pain around the area of the reaction to the injury or infection. The combination of the low fat and low cholesterol diet with other life style choices has created a firestorm. The most important thing to understand is with the long lists of aliments-inflammation is the common factor in almost all cases. The awesome news is that we can reduce inflammation. Dr. Lundell’s book explains in very simple terms how to take a stand and fight inflammation. We just need to read this book and follow his recommendations, watch our health change, get that glow back in our face.

This book is a must have in your library of books. Dr. Lundell says we need to make simple changes that will treat the inflammation instead of believing that cholesterol causes heart disease. If we give our bodies what it needs to operate properly our health will make remarkable strides and respond.

Book Review

“I Got Out Of My Wheelchair From Your Book!”

I’m  63 years old, a heart patient with kidney failure 4 times, five by-passes, heart attack, two pace makers, was on two insulin shots a day, cholesterol medication.  I never smoked, drank alcohol, nor drank coffee in all these years and I’ve been real sick for ten years.  I met Dr. Lundell and finally his words and presentation sunk into my head that I had to make dietary lifestyle changes.  I made this decision, began taking massive doses of fish oil, CLA and other supplements Dr. Lundell recommends and 7 days later when I tested my blood sugar, it came down from the normal of 250-300 down to 100.  I took myself off insulin and a month later, the VA officially took me off.

The VA is my primary care facility because I’m retired Navy.  Within a few months, the VA took me off cholesterol medication when it became normal.  And the most amazing of all, I’ve been in a wheelchair for years and just through the changes Dr. Lundell recommends, I was able to get out of my wheelchair and stay out of it.  There was a time I was so lethargic I couldn’t keep my head up and now I feel absolutely wonderful, like a 50 year old again, excited about life again.   If anyone would like to talk to me, I would be happy to share how wonderful my health has become since following Dr. Lundell’s recommendations. Dick Wright, AZ.

…..”The First Thing I Did Was Throw Out Lipitor”

There were so many amazing aspects to your book, where to begin? The first thing I did was throw Lipitor in the trash, ordered your recommendations, and attacked the pantry.  I saw the war going on you so aptly described, envisioned clearly how items we call “food” appear as a foreign invader for the body to attack-just as the body is suppose to but to think non-food, some concoction in a package does this!

Then I got mad at the food industry, the government, the people who profit from our ill-health and I’ll never let them profit from me or my health again.  I am one of those who relied on low-fat to lose weight and only gained-for years.  Thank you so much for your book.  How brave you are to tell it like it is.  I also follow doctor’s orders-and my doctor said Omega-3 would not help all that is wrong with my health. Had I not read your book, I’d still be taking Lipitor and creating heart disease-not stopping it.  Thank you so much.  J. Penn, Nashville, TN

…”I Haven’t Words For How Wonderful I Feel….”

I had the first heart attack at age 53 with bypass surgery.  Ten years later, second surgery. 12 years on statin medications.  And now, your book confirms what I have felt for a long time–statin medications are useless in heart disease.  I began your recommendations six weeks ago.  My c-reactive protein is now .88 and began at 3. 2.  I am no longer concerned with any cholesterol number and forego those tests.   Your book gave me the understanding I needed to take control of my heart and health and tell me doctor emphatically what I no longer would do or take.

I haven’t words for how wonderful I feel now.  At my age, 72, it has been many years since I could say that.  There are no words to thank you for being so brave to write this truthful book.  You are an amazing human being and doctor.  Thank you.  Gerald Stone, New York, NY

“After Reading Your Book, We Changed Our Lifestyle”

Just want to tell you how much I needed your book and how much we enjoyed it.  I was wounded in the military a number of years ago and have been using a wheelchair ever since. That type of Lifestyle limits my exercise so I was starting to run into real problems including heart disease. After reading your book we changed our life style. Got a few pounds to come off and need to lose some more.

Thanks for your time you spent writing this book, and I’m looking forward to your next one.  R. Rice, Tempe,  Arizona

“Your Book Has Completely Inspired Me….I Loved Your Book!”

First I loved your book! I teach anatomy and physiology at the college level, have a master’s degree in exercise science, and have been a conditioning specialist for over 25 years. Your book has completely inspired me to continue to try to change lives w/ healthy living w/ the proper education. I definitely will be sharing a great deal of what you have written so that I too can change lives and help others!  D. Johnson, Cleveland, OH

“I Am Putting All Your Recommendations Into Practice Now”

First of all, thank you for a great book with great wisdom. Thank you for your approach to preventive and integrative medicine. I am about two thirds through your book and cannot put it down. I am putting all your recommendations into practice now. S. Koker, Chicago, ILL

” Your Book Enlightened Me and Gave Us Much Hope”

My 57 yr old husband had a heart attack & emergency bypass (6) surgery,  a complete shock!  He has low blood pressure, normal cholesterol, normal weight, but sedentary lifestyle. Your book enlightened me and gave us much hope but I am afraid to talk to our cardiologist who I think will not agree with your approach.  Can you recommend someone?  THANK YOU!  D. Willis, Seattle, WA

“I, Too, Had Normal Cholesterol, 180 When I Had  Severe Blockage and Bypass”

I am one of your 5,000 patients. 11 years ago I had the left main coronary artery bypass done by you and then the fluid around the heart, and you took care of that with the “window” and drainage of this side effect.  I, too, had normal cholesterol, 180 when I had severe blockage and bypass. I am just doing beautiful and healthy!  No chest pain, and hopefully no more bypass.  If I ever have one again, I hope you are still around. You are a considerate, kind man.  Now I’m going to buy your book.  M. Bostick, Arizona

“Your Book Will Profoundly Change The Way I Live”

Thank you for your book!  It was easy to understand and so encouraging. I will read again to make sure I didn’t miss anything.  Fortunately 20 years ago [I am 66 now] I read an article about omega 3 fish oil and have taken it since. On my last blood screen test my HSCRP was 0.06.  Thanks again for your concern.  Your book will profoundly change the way I live from now on. S. Woods

“Thank You For Your Bravery In Going Against
Conventional Wisdom And Revealing Truth”

I first heard of your work when you were interviewed on Christian radio. I was intrigued and ordered your book. It is a wonderful revelation to my husband and me. We have struggled through many years of trying to learn more about medicines and the bad side effects as well as learning about healthy foods. What your book says makes logical sense to us. My husband had quadruple heart by-pass surgery at the end of the year 2000. His cholesterol numbers have been normal throughout his adult life. Thank you for your bravery in going against conventional “wisdom” and revealing truth. We believe you because my husband has suffered the ill effects of conventional approaches to heart and cardiovascular problems.  D. Wise. Atlanta, GA

“Truly a Great Book by a Great Doctor”

Truly a great book by a great doctor. I could not lay the book down until I had devoured it cover to cover.  My husband had a heart attack with angiogram and two stents.  He has been following your recommendations for 1 1/2 months. It truly is a Godsend to us.  He is doing very well.  Please tell us where you are located.  We are considering moving there, just to have you as his doctor.  R. Clark, Houston, TX

“We Thank God You Had The Courage To Reveal The Truth”

My husband Marshall, and I are so thankful for Dr. Lundell and the great service he has provided for us by writing his heart book. After years of great health, to our surprise in January 2008 Marshall had angioplasty which resulting in 2 stens and SIX drugs to be taken twice daily. We researched the dangerous side effects of the drugs and determined to find a better way.  We prayed and searched for an answer. Our friend gave us Dr. Lundell’s book which was so interesting I could not put it down, but read it thru immediately. We thank GOD that he had the courage to reveal the truth to us…..we only wish that we had read the book BEFORE the problem!

On March 1, 2008, Marshall went off the drugs (we gave the book to the cardiologist here). Last week Marshall’s lab work results were: ALL VITAL SIGNS EXCELLENT.  Thank you Dr. Lundell for helping us …..you truly are a doctor who lives the words: ‘First of all do NO harm!’ We thank you with all our heart. May GOD richly reward you. Gratefully, Marshall and Rose Cardiff, Tuscon, AX

“….Thought Provoking And Easy To Understand”

I just finished your book (in 1.5 days) Thought provoking and easy to understand for the lay person who I hope follow your recommendations.  As nurse specializing in perioperative cardio-thoracic surgery and a reader of many articles on the subject of heart disease, I totally agree with you. Lets hope that many people read your book and begin to awaken to the changes they need to make.  M. Pammer

25 Years Pioneer –
“Off  Pump” Heart Surgery
Beating Heart Hall of Fame
Phoenix List Top 10 Doctors – Ten Years
Performed Over  5,000 Heart Surgeries

In 2003, Dr. Lundell left his successful thoracic and cardiovascular surgical practice after 25 years to open a clinic to test his theory that inflammation in the arteries was the cause of heart disease, a theory traditional medicine saw as heresy disputing the cholesterol theory.

Leaving surgery brought a freedom to refocus his career writing books and articles, presentations, interviews and speeches to educate on inflammation and how to prevent and reverse heart disease through nutrition and lifestyle changes.

Dr. Lundell’s clinical testing led to the development of a unique supplement designed to reduce inflammation, HeartShot ™ developed by Asantae.

His position as Chief Medical Officer of Asantae allows him to travel the country speaking, educating and presenting information about inflammation and heart disease changing the health of America.

• Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery.  Certification by the American Board of Surgery, the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

• Pioneer in “Off-Pump” heart surgery reducing surgical complications and recovery times.
• Beating Heart Hall of Fame.
• Phoenix Magazine’s Top Doctors for 10 years and recognized by his peers as a leader.
• Past Chief Resident, University of Arizona and Yale University Hospitals and later served as Chief of Staff and Chief of Surgery.
• A founding partner of Lutheran Heart Hospital which became the second largest heart hospital in the US now owned by Banner Health

Dr. Lundell has consulted and advised for a variety of leading medical device manufacturers such as Cardio Thoracic Systems, Inc. before and after its acquisition by Guidant Corporation.  He advised St. Jude Medical on tissue valve implantation and marketing. For A-Med, Inc., He consulted on and published the first clinical study on miniature pumps for heart support. He co-authored a clinical study validating key technology for Coalescent Surgical, which was subsequently acquired by Medtronic, Inc

Publications & Presentations

The Great Cholesterol Lie, March 2009

The Cure for Heart Disease: July 2007

A Miniature Right Heart Support System Improves Cardiac Output and Stroke Volume During Beating Heart Posterior/Lateral Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting, Heart Surgery Forum, 2003;6(5):302-6.

Clinical and Six-Month Angiographic Evaluation of Coronary Arterial Graft Interrupted Anastomoses by Use of a Self-Closing Clip Device: a Multi-center Prospective Clinical Trial, J. Thorac Cardiovasc Surg, 2003 Jul; 126(a):168-77, discussion 177-8.

The Interrelationship of Factors Controlling Cardiac Output, Med Hypothesis, 1983 Jan; 10(1):77-95.

Clinical Applications of the Intra-aortic Balloon Pump, Ariz Med, 1981 Jan;38(1):19-21.

Randomized Comparisons of the Modified Wire-Guided and Standard Intra-aortic Balloon Catheters, J. Thorac Cardiovasc Surg, 1981 Feb;81(2):297-301.

Combined Aortic Valve Replacement and Myocardial Revascularization, Connecticut Medicine, 1980 Jun;44(6):363-6.

The Importance of Myocardial Protection in Combined Aortic Valve Replacement and Myocardial Revascularization, Annual. Thorac Surg, 1979 Dec;28(6):501-8.

Leiomyoma of the Esophagus, Conn Med, 1979 Aug;43(8):483-5

Cold Chemical Cardioplegia, Presentation at the New England Surgical Society, May, 1979.

Doppler Ultrasound Diagnosis of Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, Presented at Connecticut Society of Board Surgeons, December 1978.

Hypoliquorreic Headache and Pneumoncephalus Caused by Thoracosub Arachnoid Fistula, Neurology 1977 Oct;27(10):993-995.

Guidelines for the Management of Lung Cancer, Ariz Med, 1977 Mar;34(3):176-82.

Cardiothoracic Surgery Resident, 1977-1978
University of Arizona, Arizona Health Sciences Center
Chief Resident, General Surgery, 1976-1977
University of Arizona, Arizona Health Sciences Center
Surgery Resident, 1971-1973, 1975-1977
University of Arizona, Arizona Health Sciences Center
General Surgery Intern, 1971-1972
University of Arizona
Doctor of Medicine, Charter Class of 1971

The fine print required says “in a large clinical study 3% of people taking a placebo had a heart attack and 2% of those taking Lipitor had a heart attack.”  Let’s do the math.

For every 100 people in the trial that lasted 3 l/2 years, 3 people on the placebo and 2 people on Lipitor had heart attacks. That is one less heart attack for every 100 people.

In other words, 100 people had to take Lipitor for 3 l/2 years to prevent one heart attack. What this really means is, 99 out of 100 people taking Lipitor received no benefit.

There is a little known statistic, “Number Needed To Treat,” (NNT) defined as the number of patients who need to be treated in order to prevent one bad outcome. In the case of Lipitor, 100 patients needed to be treated for 3 l/2 years to possibly eliminate one heart attack.

Let’s compare that number to today’s antibiotic treatment to eradicate ulcer causing H. pylori stomach bacteria. The Number Needed To Treat H. pylori is 1:1. That means if you give the antibiotic to 11 people, 10 will be cured.

Several recent scientific papers peg the NNT for statin medications at 250. That means 249 of 250 would receive no benefit. Dr. Jerome R. Hoffman, Professor of Clinical Medicine at UCLA asks:

“What if you put 250 people in a room and told them they would have to pay over $1,000 per year for a medicine they must take every day that might give them diarrhea and muscle pain and that 249 of those people would get no benefit, how many would take that?” Very, very few.                                

Marketing Over Medicine

Drug companies have a responsibility to their shareholders to make a profit. We need drug companies to develop new medicines; however, when they grossly overstate benefits and spend enormous dollars influencing physicians, it leads to potential corruption.

The National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) 2004 guidelines lowered the targets for cholesterol treatment and recommended more Americans take statins. The panel that issued the guidelines was comprised of 9 experts, 8 of which had ties to the drug industry.

We physicians who speak out take great risks as medicine and government agencies do not like criticism. For example, Dr. Henry C. Barry of the Michigan State University College of Medicine recently stated, “The NCEP guideline and process went awry.”

Dr. Barry and 34 other experts sent a petition of protest to the National Institutes of Health  saying the evidence was weak and the panel biased because of its ties to the drug industry.

Dr. Rodney A. Hayward, Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School said, “current evidence supports ignoring LDL cholesterol altogether.”

In response, The National Cholesterol Education Program stated strongly, “Dr. Hayward should be held accountable in a court of law for doing things to kill people.”

We might expect this kind of harsh response from zealots and extremists but not from government agencies or scientists. If we spent just a fraction of the money we now do on cholesterol testing, cholesterol lowering drugs and doctors visits, on educating people about proper diet, exercise and weight loss, we’d be far healthier.

–Dr. Dwight Lundell

The theory began in 1948 with the Framingham Study, a study that was responsible for good information until 1961 when those early researchers focused on cholesterol and tunnel vision set in.  From then on, cholesterol was deemed evil rather than the vital substance it is to life.

Over the course of 25 years and 5,000 heart surgeries, I’d often look at a patient on my table and wonder why he (or she) was there.  His cholesterol was in check, he was not obese, did not smoke and in fact, had none of the typical risk factors associated with heart disease.   

I repaired his heart knowing well statistics were high he would be back for surgery again within 10 years with his cholesterol still in check.

Over 25% of the population takes statin medications.  Now there’s a feverish rush to prescribe statin medication preventatively to otherwise healthy people.  If statins prevented heart disease, why has heart disease soared year after year and is the number one taker of human life?

Just that fact alone should have everyone questioning the validity of the cholesterol theory and taking statin medications.  Cholesterol doe not cause heart disease-inflammation in the arteries does.  What is inflammation and where is it coming from?

The answer to that question is both tragic and sad.  The very dietary recommendations born of the cholesterol theory of no-fat and low fat foods cause inflammation.  Polyunsaturated Omega-6 oils; packaged and processed foods created for shelf life and not long life; sugars and simple carbohydrates create inflammation.  This is the cause of an epidemic of heart disease, obesity and other chronic illnesses.

Do you have unhealthy levels of inflammation?  If you have been eating the typical American diet with the typical American lifestyle, more than likely yes.  A simple C – reactive protein test will determine the level of inflammation in your body.

The good news is, you can treat inflammation naturally by following the recommendations in Chapter 6.  To join others healing their hearts right now, click here.

Dr. Dwight Lundell