Reddit mentions: The best books about heart diseases

I've been a huge fan of HR based training since way back. I'm not very good at being honest with myself WRT to "perceived effort"; having an objective measurement (as imperfect as it is) is a tremendously helpful insight for me and TBH I couldn't imaging trying to train without an HRM. YMMV.

A long time ago when I was mountainbiking I got into the Benson-Connolly method. This methodology uses five large zones based on MaxHR. This did pretty well for me - I definitely saw improvement as I worked through the program. I developed a spreadsheet that took the avg of each of the various formulas to determine max HR and provided me with the numbers to plug into my HRM. The zone definitions correlated strongly to how I felt in each zone. The method has a strong reliance on fartleks and intervals, and "base building" is used as a verb, but never really defined as a definition.

|SPEED|95%|100%|
|:-|:-|:-|
|ECONOMY|85%|94%|
|STAMINA|75%|84%|
|ENDURANCE|60%|74%|
|REST|1%|59%|

​

This spring, however, coming off of self-induced stress fractures, I decided to try something different. I started on Joe Friel's system (just the book; the site is strongly tilted towards elite triathletes). Joe's system uses seven small zones based on LactateTHReshold. The book is a little short on theory and long on training plans - and as someone who's not an elite athlete trying to podium at events, converting the plan based on several build/peak cycles in a season into a yearlong strategy to "move fast in the backcountry every winter weekend" requires a little creativity and thinking hard about the specific physiological changes each phase is focused on.

|5c ANAEROBIC CAPACITY|107%|\>107%|
|:-|:-|:-|
|5b AEROBIC CAPACITY|103%|106%|
|5a LACTATE THRESHOLD|100%|102%|
|4 SUB LACTATE THRESHOLD|95%|99%|
|3 TEMPO|90%|94%|
|2 AEROBIC THRESHOLD|85%|89%|
|1 ACTIVE RECOVERY|60%|84%|

I determined my LTHR using Garmin's builtin test and built a spreadsheet to calculate the numbers. Note that the book I linked provides tables mapping your LTHR to BPM, but doesn't actually provide the zone percentages. A little bit of algebra confirmed the googlefu. Base building is defined as "aerobic coupling" - where, given a consistent load, your BPM stays constant for the duration of the workout. When I started on my base 9 weeks ago, I had to walk/jog to stay in zone 2 and I was doing ~5mpw. Now, I'm doing ~30mpw and I can do 09:50 miles (on flat terrain) until my knees give out*. This weekend, I ran a 28:15 5k trail race. I do >80% of my miles in zone2, and the other 20% comes from my long trail runs where I push myself up hills but ignore pace.

I'm finding that Joe's system is working very well for me. I'm getting greater gains faster than I did with Benson-Connelly, and I'm not getting injured. My strategy is to transition into Build phase near the end of June, where I'll spend a more time in zone 3-5 doing fartleks and hill ladders for cardiovascular work, while further developing my musculo-skeletal system with harder hypertrophic excercises [I'm building myself a sled, for example].

Once the snow starts coming down, I'll go back to a "build" style weekly plan to maintain fitness during the week, and play hard every weekend in the mountains.

​

*that's a whole different post

>why do so many doctors stand behind these drugs, the money?

That's one big reason among several, yes. Maybe not money directly, but there are always the nice little gifts, the friendly sales rep with his helpful "research" to save them time chasing down and analysing debate between researchers, and the corporate-sponsored medical conferences in exotic countries etc (I personally know a doctor who loves going on these every year). There's also the little item that if your research funding comes from corporations and "non-profit" organisations with funding links to the corporate world, you are less likely to want to bite the hand that feeds you.

Re the logic, isn't it pretty obvious? You have a drug that is supposed to promote heart health which actually puts it at risk. I feel sorry for the trusting people who suffered or perhaps even died before it was realised that statin-induced Co-enzyme Q10 deficiency causes serious harm. And the problems of statins aren't just related to CoQ10. Statins suppress one of the precursors of CoQ10 and cholesterol, HMG-CoA reductase. That enzyme is a precursor about half a dozen steps prior to cholesterol - which means that about five other substances besides cholesterol are suppressed when a statin drug is present. Cholesterol of course is used to make other things, like the sex hormones estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. Like bile, which helps with the absorbtion of fat and the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Like the "stress hormone" cortisol. Cholesterol is also a precursor for the body's synthesis of Vitamin D (so lowering it not only retards absorbtion of Vitamin D through food, but also retards your skin generating Vitamin D when sunshine hits it). Vitamin D is needed for proper bone mineralisation, and is also believed to have an anti-cancer effect. As well as the liver, the brain manufactures cholesterol but Lipitor can cross the blood-brain barrier and stop production there too. As cholesterol comprises a significant portion of the brain and is necessary for proper mental function, it is no wonder that slowness, forgetfulness, and even transient global amnesia are known symptoms of statin use.

I am related to someone who is taking Lipitor right now. He is taking co-enzyme Q10 and still suffering muscular aches and pains, and cannot raise his arms above shoulder-level any more, the pain is so great if he tries. He also suffers from an overwhelming tiredness shortly after taking his fix, and becomes a little slow at following the thread of conversations. His faith in his personal doctor is absolute, and no matter how many books written by DOCTORS I place in front of him to read, his faith in Lipitor and his Medical Priest sustain him like some sort of cult, even though I see it wearing him down before my despairing eyes. Interestingly, the white-coated Priest has been presented with Dr Graveline's first book on Lipitor, and did not choose to contend with it at all. His response to his patient was that "the choice to stop or continue taking it is yours".

When you learn from members of the international medical community that high cholesterol has not been proven as the cause of heart disease and how the stated reason for using statins is flawed by politics, profit and junk science, and there is no medically useful reason to take these dangerous statin drugs at all, you tend to want to boil over in fury.

Some books for you to check out:

The Great Cholesterol Con, by Malcolm Kendrick MD (2007)

The Cholesterol Myths, by Uffe Ravnskov MD PhD (2000, 2002)

The Great Cholesterol Con, by Anthony Colpo (2006) - forward by Ravnskov & contains nearly 1500 citations to medical journals and research trial reports.

Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol, by Mary Enig PhD (2000) - a bit dry for the lay reader, plunges into lipid chemistry, but highly informative. Enig was among researchers who became concerned about trans fats way back in the 1970s.

The Heart Revolution: The Extraordinary Discovery That Finally Laid the Cholesterol Myth to Rest, by Kilmer Mccully MD & Martha Mccully (2000)

Lipitor: Thief of Memory, by Duane Graveline MD (2006)

Statin Drugs Side Effects and the Misguided War on Cholesterol, by Duane Graveline MD (2008)

Those books have plenty of academic and scientific citations for you to seek further.

The amount of yellow shit in the arteries in your heart is detectable using a heart scan. Books like Track Your Plaque can tell you more about these scans and more importantly what you can do to reduce the amount of plaque.

Eeating "healthier" can dramatically reduce or reverse plaque. The million dollar question is what foods are healthier? Whole foods for sure: meat, veggies, fruit and nuts. However, heart disease has rates have some very interesting correlations with wheat consumption and Dr. Davis has had such success in reversing this disease in his patients by having them avoid wheat.

Also interesting is that in the analysis of The China Study, those regions where heart disease was nearly non-existant also ate a higher level of fat and cholesterol than those regions where heart disease was a major problem (although overall levels of fat in Chinese diet is relatively low).

I'm only 1.5 months post ablation but doing great so far. I would recommend just going straight for the ablation, it's almost an inevitable outcome and will save you years of research/hassle of trying to figure out triggers, get meds working, etc... Here's a great book to read:
https://smile.amazon.com/Beat-Your--Fib-Essential-Fibrillation/dp/0984951407/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469126310&sr=8-1&keywords=afib

I don't know what you mean by energy systems, but for understanding training with heart rate zones, Joe Friel is fairly popular and easy to understand. He has a book that is good, but the essentials are covered on his blog.

We're all dead...


I have no clue why it's not more active. When it was more active, most of the posts were from a doctor promoting his business. That and people worried they had heart disease because of heart palpitations.

I wish there were more people talking about what's working for them and what isn't.

I guess I can start...
I bought the audio book of How to Beat the Heart Attack Gene. I just started it, but it's been helpful in opening my eyes to different ways I can increase my odds.

I highly recommend it.

https://www.amazon.com/Beat-Heart-Attack-Gene-Revolutionary/dp/1681620227

> Furthermore, cholesterol is the predecessor to a host of other factors that the body uses as catalysts for all kinds of biological processes. For example, testosterone, the male hormone. And cortisol, a hormone produced by the adrenal glands that plays a critical role in managing stress. Furthermore, the myth that high cholesterol is bad is not borne out by the facts. In 1990, researchers from 19 studies worldwide met in Bethesda, Md, to compare results on cholesterol studies, and produced plots summarizing their conclusions ([3], p. 81). For women, there is, over the entire curve, an inverse correlation between cholesterol levels and mortality rates. That's right: the lower the cholesterol reading, the more likely she is to die. It is true that men with very high cholesterol (> 240 mg/dl) have an increase in mortality due to an increased incidence of heart disease; however, mortality increases on the low side as well (below 160 mg/dl), due to increased risk of cancer and respiratory and digestive diseases. This means that both men and women have higher mortality if their cholesterol levels are too low. Women should worry only about low cholesterol, never about high cholesterol.

There's a very good book that I recommend. The Great Cholesterol Con: The Truth About What Really Causes Heart Disease and How to Avoid It. It very convincingly blows the doors off the cholesterol causes Coronary Heart Disease conventional wisdom.

The bottom line is that stress and possible bacterial and/or viral agents cause CHD.

If you're interested in the book, I wrote a summary of the first half, mostly for myself to help me remember it. It's here.

Sorry but is your heart rate not too much, your 171 avg heart rate for such a long time is not healthy ... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MZ6S2LP/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Live Better Electrically, A Heart Rhythm Doc's Humorous Guide to Arrhythmias

https://www.amazon.com/Live-Better-Electrically-Humorous-Arrhythmias/dp/0997236000. Or

http://www.booklivebetterelectrically.com/

I like this book: https://www.amazon.com/Total-Heart-Rate-Training-Customize/dp/1569755620/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1569755620&pd_rd_r=WHMEFJZS5J8KQAA1Z4XJ&pd_rd_w=nF4t6&pd_rd_wg=1Ha6A&psc=1&refRID=WHMEFJZS5J8KQAA1Z4XJ

"Total Heart rate Training"

It talks a lot about the science of how it works as well as gives training plan concepts that work across any cardio sport.

Netter cardiology is wonderful. It has great diagrams and is very complete, but can be difficult to get through if you want a primary resource.

If you are looking for a resource on cardiac pharmacology, I recommend Opie's Drugs for the Heart

Unfortunately, there’s a reason this is pass down information. These are the books has my facility has (and they are tethered to the nurses station).

Congenital Heart Defects, Simplified Second Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692885374/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_dgdWBb824F040

Illustrated Field Guide to Congenital Heart Disease and Repair - Pocket Sized https://www.amazon.com/dp/0979625246/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_dhdWBbS0J0YRB

Flip and See ECGs - Revised Reprint https://www.amazon.com/dp/0323085229/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_oidWBbR1D8PQF

https://www.amazon.com/Heart-411-Guide-Health-Youll/dp/0307719901

There's also "Heart Disease for Dummies"

The link between saturated fat and heart disease is greatly exaggerated:

https://www.amazon.com/Great-Cholesterol-Really-Causes-Disease/dp/B00BOV011M/

Check out this book by a family friend

https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Disease-Epidemic-Among-Asians/dp/0976995301

What type of family history is your problem? If it is heart disease get a book called "Track Your Plaque".

http://www.amazon.com/Track-Your-Plaque-Prevention-Coronary/dp/0595316646

It lays out a fairly simple way of preventing it.

get this book and then do what it says

http://www.amazon.com/Track-Your-Plaque-prevention-coronary/dp/0595316646/ref=la_B002BLT426_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452556351&sr=1-7

This Dr. uses advanced imaging technology to track plaque buildup, and has devised a diet and supplement regimen that is scientifically proven to cleanout blood vessels

also get some K2 supplements

http://www.amazon.com/Vitamin-K2-Calcium-Paradox-Little-Known/dp/0062320041/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452556943&sr=8-1&keywords=Kate+Rheaume-bleue

https://www.amazon.com/Statin-Drugs-Really-Lower-Cholesterol/dp/0615618170

Maybe this is it?

https://www.amazon.ca/Haywire-Heart-exercise-protect-heart/dp/1937715671

17:20.

he's unclear about the book title.. "why statins don't work (or something) and kill you one cell at a time". Doesn't mention the author.

probably this : https://www.amazon.com/Statin-Drugs-Really-Lower-Cholesterol/dp/0615618170

"How Statin Drugs Really Lower Cholesterol: And Kill You One Cell at a Time"