Discussion Board

From a notice sent out by Dr. McDougall this morning to the over 28,000 people on his mailing list:
Sent: Sun 2/14/10 7:12 AM
McDougall Breaking News
An Invitation for Bill Clinton to Attend the McDougall Program
http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2010oth ... linton.htm

wow!!what a powerful letter.it is especially meaningful to me as i work at nyph--where pres clinton is followed.he is much beloved in our neighborhood of washington heights--where heart disease is rampant in the dominican community.(thanks to the deadly combination of diet and lack of exercise) what an example president clinton could be if he stopped his heart disease by following a low fat plant based diet.....please bill!!please?????you have so much important work ahead of you in haiti!!i believe the country needs you!

I participated in an online Q/A at the Washington Post's website ("Bill Clinton: Is There A Cure For Heart Disease") and tried to get the surgeons there to talk about diet & lifestyle modification. While they were willing enough to pay lip-service to it as an important element of ongoing treatment, it was clear that they did not regard it as a serious alternative to conventional therapy.

I submitted several questions--these are the two that they took a stab at answering:

Huntington, W.Va.: What are the dangers of cognitive dysfunction associated with coronary bypass surgery? Do you think heart patients are made sufficiently aware of these dangers as well as the alternative therapies related to diet and lifestyle that might allow them to avoid surgery?

Ron Waksman, M.D.: With CABG stroke rates are low around 1%.

Cognitive impairment is usually transient.

Stents are an alternative but for multivessel disease CABG is still the preferred strategy of revascularization.

Huntington, W.Va.: Is "coronary stenting" the same as "angioplasty"? If so, has it really shown to be effective at reducing mortality?

The Angioplasty Debacle
http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2006nl/sept/angio.htm

Ron Waksman, M.D.: Not much in reduction of mortality mainly, reduction in chest pain (angina).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01666.html
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Wayne Ferguson
Nutritional Education Trainer
WayneFerguson.Com