Steven Masley - The 30-Day Heart Tune-Up: A Breakthrough Medical Plan to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease

T his book can actually change your life. Sounds crazy? Read on. Science has made great progress in the war on heart disease, yet heart disease remains a leading cause of death and disability throughout the developed world, and the evolving pandemic of coronary artery disease is now sweeping into the developing nations of the world. As Western civilization appears in emerging countries and cultures, the incidence of heart disease, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, and stroke is soaring. In the United States, the epidemic of obesity and adult onset diabetes is one important area where the battle remains to be won. Because of the wonders of modern living, we have become a largely fast-food and sedentary society. To quote Pogo, a twentieth-century cartoon character and philosopher, We have met the enemy, and he is us.

Dr. Steven Masley has been leading the fight against heart disease for many years, and in his new book, he provides excellent practical advice for heart health. Dr. Masley draws liberally on the evidence base of medical literature on heart disease and prevention, along with real-life examples from his own medical practice, years of research, and his personal family journey.

In The 30-Day Heart Tune-Up, Dr. Masley teaches readers how to discover potential and real threats to their cardiovascular health and, as a result, possibly prevent a destructive heart event. The book provides well-structured, practical, and achievable goals to achieve better heart health. These goals are admirable and attainable. However, there is no single route on the road to heart health success. This is not a one-size-fits-all tactical approach. Each of us brings our own set of both reversible and nonmodifiable risk factors for heart disease.

When I was 12 years old, my grandfather died from a heart attack, his first, at age 67. Barely eight years later, at the peak of his successful career as a naval officer, my father suffered a life-changing and career-ending heart attack at age 49. That experience, while I was a college sophomore, gave me pause to examine my own genetic roots and look toward my personal and professional future. I decided that if I was going to acquire this terrible illness that was striking men in my family at younger and younger ages, Id better learn as much as I could to avoid the fate of my father and grandfather. I focused my professional goals on going to medical school to help those with heart disease. In addition, however, I decided to help people keep from getting heart disease in the first place. Adopting an adage of Benjamin Franklins alter ego, Poor Richard, I became a strong advocate for the philosophy that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. His philosophy has been a guide to me throughout my entire life.

So throughout our careers, both Dr. Masley and I have worked to answer the question How can we prevent this growing epidemic of heart disease? The United States Department of Health and Human Services in its Healthy People 2020 program has set aggressive goals for weight standards and enhanced diet for both adults and children. The concepts proposed by the American Heart Association and its Simple 7 Program are all focused on prevention at the individual level. Dr. Masleys book is a great tool in this prevention effort.

Dr. Masley has drawn from his own singular professional and personal background to bring into one volume a combination of risk assessment and intervention tools that anyone can adopt to create real change in his or her life. For example, the use of carotid intimal medial thickness (IMT) as an assessment tool for determining the pathological age of arteries also can be used to measure response to prevention programs. Dr. Masley is on the leading edge of early adopters of this technology to assess the arterial wall thickness and its response to aggressive approaches to slowing or reversing the progress of plaque growth.

No one can speak for the potential of self-help books for the millions who are in need but who have not taken the first step. You have already taken the first and most important step: You have picked up this book. You have already expressed that you are ready to make a change in your life. In his classic work addressing stages of change, Dr. James Prochaska described the critical early stage, that of precontemplation. You have already moved to the next stage. You have decided to get engaged. That decision could mean a life change for your health and much more. I encourage you to keep reading Dr. Masleys work and to put his plan into action in your life. His book brings to the lay public a special approach. Self-help books are usually short on assessment and long on opinion, with highly variable evidence bases. In contrast, The 30-Day Heart Tune-Up provides both assessment tools and practical guides to therapeutic lifestyle change (TLC) for addressing both a sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy diet choices.

Much of our population views doctors as purveyors of pills and other invasive interventions. All too often, we as physicians forget that therapeutic lifestyle changes such as those proposed by Dr. Masley ought to be the cornerstones of both prevention and treatment programs. His concrete dietary suggestions are well grounded in nutritional literature. His suggestions for aerobic exercise programs and training targets are based on the evidence supporting national guidelines established by the American Heart Association, the American College of Sports Medicine, and the Institute of Medicine. In this book, youll find Dr. Masleys approach to measuring arterial aging and disease. He then describes his tools for measuring fitness, dietary and exercise plans to improve your heart and arteries. Your personal 30-Day Heart Tune-Up package can be accessed by your doctors and implemented by others involved in your care. You have taken the first step. Keep up the good work. Read on.

Douglas D. Schocken, MD

Professor of Medicine/Cardiology
Duke University School of Medicine