Chauncey Crandall - The Simple Heart Cure: The 90-Day Program to Stop and Reverse Heart Disease Revised and Updated

Humanix Books

The Simple Heart Cure

2013 Chauncey Crandall, M.D.

A Humanix Books publication

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Disclaimer: The information presented in this book is not specific medical advice for any individual and should not substitute medical advice from a health professional. If you have (or think you may have) a heart problem or heart disease, speak to your doctor or a health professional immediately about your risk and possible treatments. Do not engage in any care of treatment without consulting a medical professional.

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN (E-Book) 978-1-63006-008-1

LCCN 2013944532

To my wife, Deborah, my sons Christian and Chad, and for the patients the Lord has entrusted to my care.

All to the glory of God.

Welcome to The Simple Heart Cure: Dr. Crandalls 90-Day Program to Stop and Reverse Heart Disease. Congratulations on taking the initiative to reach out for information that will help you to guard your hearts health and live the life that God intended. I hope youll find this book an invaluable resource.

No doubt you are reading this book because you have concerns. Maybe youve already had a heart attack. Or youve been suffering from angina and are wondering about new and improved treatments. You may be overweight, plagued by a smoking habit, or your doctor has told you that your cholesterol counts are through the roof. Its natural to worry.

Heart disease is the No. 1 killer in America, not only for men but women as well. In fact, heart disease kills more women every year than all cancers combined including breast cancer. Nearly a third of all deaths are from heart disease.

Its not as if theres not enough information out there. In fact, theres almost too much: Internet sites, shelves upon shelves of books, pamphlets, newsletters, television shows, and advertisements for every treatment imaginable.

Understandably, many people suffer from information overload. Wed like just to trust our doctors, but they have waiting rooms crammed full of patients. Too often, the easiest thing to do is reach for the prescription pad, rather than teaching and leading patients to better health.

Who am I? Im a Yale Medical School-trained, board-certified, interventional cardiologist (F.A.C.C., F.C.C.P.). I practice in Palm Beach, Fla., and many of Americas most powerful and wealthy people, including many billionaires, are among my patients. In fact, people fly in from all over America and from abroad to see me. Of course, I take care of many people of modest means but I am especially drawn to the care of the elderly and the poor.

From an early age, I was interested in medicine, but during my college and early graduate years, I also was fascinated by anthropology the study of human beings and their cultures. This interest endures and has enabled me to see things other Western physicians often cannot see.

As an undergraduate, I traveled to the West African nation of Togo to study the Kabre tribe. The Kabre live on a diet of cereals, fruits, and vegetables, consuming meat only on feasting occasions. Heart disease is almost unknown among them. I became interested in specializing in cardiology during my medical training, so I volunteered to assist in cutting-edge research. This added to the workload, but it was well worth it.

From 1989 to 1993, I was on the clinical research faculty at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, Va. There, I ran the heart-transplant program. This involved assessing every transplant candidates eligibility.

This was truly holistic medicine, in the sense that everything had to be considered the patients prior behavior, the presence or absence of other health conditions, the ability of his family to support his recovery before a candidate received the green light for (or was denied) a new heart.

Then I had the most enlightening day in my lifelong study of heart disease: I became a patient.

In 2002, I was returning from a speaking engagement on Long Island. When I arrived at the airport in New York, I pulled my suitcase out of the car and felt a sharp pain in my shoulder.

But I was only 48, not a diabetic, I dont smoke, and I have no family history of heart disease. It simply didnt occur to me then that it might be my heart. I boarded the plane, and the pain went away. When I arrived in Palm Beach, I picked up my bag, and the pain in my shoulder came back, now with a little pressure in my chest. But I was fine by the time I arrived home.

I didnt want to tell my wife, Deborah. I kept going through possible diagnoses in my head, trying to convince myself that it couldnt be heart disease.

My wife runs in the morning. I thought Id walk along behind her, but I couldnt even make it to the end of the driveway without severe pain. I sat on the entryway steps and waited until she returned.

It was hard to admit, but I finally said it out loud: Deborah, you have to take me to the hospital. Ive got a heart problem. By the time the medical team had me on the table, I was in severe pain.

My whole heart was crying out for blood, and it couldnt get any my left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery was 99 percent blocked! I had an emergency angioplasty and received two stents.

I learned from this episode that if I wanted to continue making a significant contribution to this world, I had to take care of my health. I had to get serious about exercise, stay on a restricted diet, get a periodic stress test, and pray for the healing of my body, for my own and my familys sake. Thats why Im so glad you are reading this book. Consider it a virtual visit with one of your doctors. (It should not, however, be considered a substitute for consulting with your personal physician. I would never advise that.)

I believe strongly that if you read this book and use the Three Keys Learn It, Treat It, and Reverse It you will focus on the changes you need to make and achieve victory over heart disease.

Lets get started!

I dread the emergency calls that send me flying down the hospital corridor when patients are brought to the hospital in cardiac arrest. I know the news is not likely to be good; many times, patients brought into the hospital this late after suffering a heart attack dont make it. But nothing prepared me for the shock of seeing my good friend Jack lying there on the gurney.

Earlier that day Jack had started suffering discomfort after one of his customary indulgent meals, which hed topped off with a cigar. He ignored the growing discomfort in his shoulder, brushed aside his wifes growing concern, as he grew pale and sweaty. But he waited four hours, until he was writhing in pain, his face contorted in agony, before he finally gave in to her pleas to call an ambulance. But it was too late.