This book is about a doctor’s quest to understand, treat, and prevent Cardiovascular Disease. Thomas Cowan, MD wrote this book in 2016, it is part biography, part wisdom, and part practical advice. The book is deeply personal, detailed and full of good advice for those who have, or know of, people with Cardiovascular Disease. In particular the writing is easy on the eye, mind, and the heart of the layman – it is very easy to both read and understand the technicalities involved in the workings of the heart and cardiovascular system. Below are just a few of the gems that are contained in the book text.
Dr Cowan became fascinated by the ground breaking ideas of Weston A. Price (of whom he is a board member – Nutrition and Physical Degeneration) and Rudolf Steiner early in his stint at medical school, and remained a disciple, particularly of Steiner’s provocative claim that the heart is not a pump. Dr Cowan shows that Steiner was correct and that our general understanding of heart disease (with its supposed origins in the blood vessels) is completely wrong.
Another major influence was Viktor Schauberger, an Austrian forester, inventor and intellectual with his ideas on the behaviour of water, and that fitted in with that of Pollack (The Fourth Phase of Water). Putting the two together - the forces of levity in water and the flow characteristics of structured water - enabled Cowan to gain an insight into how fluids flow in living systems, and how blood flows in arteries and veins, in particular. This led to challenging the idea that the heart is a pump by looking at a different force within the body that circulates blood through the vessels.
Paraphrasing, so, what does the heart do? Apparently, the blood in the venous system flows upward towards the heart, essentially under its own power (with some help from the valves and muscle contraction). Steiner said that the closest ‘machine’ to the heart is the hydraulic ram – where, when the pressure and volume build up on the incoming side, a vacuum is created on the other side, and when the pressure differential reaches a certain level, the valve opens and fluid can be propelled upward. At the same time, in the heart, another process occurs, the form of the blood changes from a laminar flow to a vortex. The action of the heart on the blood is one of using suction to increase the momentum of the blood. The function of the heart is to create vortices – one horizontal and one vertical.
Again, paraphrasing about what is the sequence of events that leads to a heart attack. There is decreased tonic activity of the parasympathetic nervous system (caused by emotional stress, inactivity, poor diet, hypertension, or, often a combination of any of these). Then, there is an increase in the sympathetic nervous system activity which results in accelerating and constricting the heart. Adrenaline production is increased, directing the myocardial cells to break down glucose, which in turn redirects the metabolism of the heart away from its preferred and most efficient fuel sources. As a result there is a dramatic increase in lactic acid production in the myocardial cells. The build-up of lactic acid in the cells eventually causes nacrosis of the heart tissue – which is known as a heart attack.
Where does the conventional medical idea of build-up of arterial plaque, thus causing constricted arteries, fit in with a heart attack? It comes from the increased lactose build up (mentioned above) causing localised edema to alter the hemodynamics within these arteries thus causing a pressure sufficient to rupture the unstable arterial plaques, which further blocks the arteries and worsens the hemodynamics in that area of the heart. And, this is what conventional medicine considers is the prime cause of a heart attack; events or conditions that happen in the coronary arteries which block blood flow to the heart. In fact it is a by-product of an actual heart attack. The coronary artery theory misinterprets the actual pathological events. The spectrum of heart, or coronary artery, disease is better understood from the perspective of events occurring in the actual heart itself.
Coronary arterial sclerosis is a consequence of metabolic dysfunction of the heart, it stiffens and narrows the blood vessels making the blood flow less robust. The cause of this is inflammation, and it is the body’s response to this continued unchecked inflammation activity. Arterial plaque is the body’s compensation for a weakened artery. Cowan quotes a 2004 web article by Dr Ravnskov (The Benefits of High Cholesterol) who makes a case that LDL cholesterol is largely responsible for preventing infections and that people with the lowest LDL levels have the highest mortality rates.
What is key: that is treating the underlying cause of the inflammation, both in the body and in the blood vessels. For this the crucial measurement is C-Reactive Protein (hsCRP). To address the root cause of inflammation is to deal with hyperinsulinemia – elevated insulin levels in the blood (measure HgbA1c, blood sugar level). This occurs when there is a chronic imbalance between the amount of carbohydrates consumed and the amount of carbohydrates a person needs. C-Reactive Protein can be addressed with a prescribed diet (good food, liberal fats, fat soluble nutrients, and low processed carbohydrates and sugars, as well as drinking mineralised and structured water) and movement (20 mins per day of barefoot walking or 30 mins of vigorous outdoor walking, and, once a week high impact high intensity strength training) programme.
The author provides further steps in preventing, or in some cases reducing arthriosclerosis, and other interventions. In particular, for prevention, and treatment, of heart attacks he advocates the use of Enhanced External Counter Pulsation (EECP), which is successful in helping more than 80% of people who use it avoid coronary bypass or stent operations.
To prevent heart attacks he suggests that we must protect and nourish our parasympathetic activity, with activities such as contact with nature (structuring water (blood) from sunlight, the Earth’s electromagnetic field, and the infrared energy that emits from other living beings), restoring to health as many living beings as you can, loving relationships (physical touch with other people – the energy from the hands is a particularly effective way of stimulating blood and water flow), love is essential to maintaining e healthy heart, as is trust, economic security, and sex, and finally, shedding as many beliefs as possible (including the cherished ones) – in a sense adopting a whole new way of life.
And, there is much, much more in the book. There are Appendices on: Heart Diet; Preventing and Treating Angina, Unstable Angina, and Heart Attacks; and, Cholesterol and How to read a Lipid Profile.
Cowan asks us to look anew at the heart, and from his observations comes up with a way of treating heart disease that is more effective and gentle (as above) than conventional medical protocols (such as the medications patients are put on after a heart attack; and their side effects - summed up as: progressive deterioration – induced onset of premature aging). His approach is that of treating people in such a way that makes them stronger and healthier.
A book that is well worth the read. Recommended.
Dr Cowan became fascinated by the ground breaking ideas of Weston A. Price (of whom he is a board member – Nutrition and Physical Degeneration) and Rudolf Steiner early in his stint at medical school, and remained a disciple, particularly of Steiner’s provocative claim that the heart is not a pump. Dr Cowan shows that Steiner was correct and that our general understanding of heart disease (with its supposed origins in the blood vessels) is completely wrong.
Another major influence was Viktor Schauberger, an Austrian forester, inventor and intellectual with his ideas on the behaviour of water, and that fitted in with that of Pollack (The Fourth Phase of Water). Putting the two together - the forces of levity in water and the flow characteristics of structured water - enabled Cowan to gain an insight into how fluids flow in living systems, and how blood flows in arteries and veins, in particular. This led to challenging the idea that the heart is a pump by looking at a different force within the body that circulates blood through the vessels.
Paraphrasing, so, what does the heart do? Apparently, the blood in the venous system flows upward towards the heart, essentially under its own power (with some help from the valves and muscle contraction). Steiner said that the closest ‘machine’ to the heart is the hydraulic ram – where, when the pressure and volume build up on the incoming side, a vacuum is created on the other side, and when the pressure differential reaches a certain level, the valve opens and fluid can be propelled upward. At the same time, in the heart, another process occurs, the form of the blood changes from a laminar flow to a vortex. The action of the heart on the blood is one of using suction to increase the momentum of the blood. The function of the heart is to create vortices – one horizontal and one vertical.
Again, paraphrasing about what is the sequence of events that leads to a heart attack. There is decreased tonic activity of the parasympathetic nervous system (caused by emotional stress, inactivity, poor diet, hypertension, or, often a combination of any of these). Then, there is an increase in the sympathetic nervous system activity which results in accelerating and constricting the heart. Adrenaline production is increased, directing the myocardial cells to break down glucose, which in turn redirects the metabolism of the heart away from its preferred and most efficient fuel sources. As a result there is a dramatic increase in lactic acid production in the myocardial cells. The build-up of lactic acid in the cells eventually causes nacrosis of the heart tissue – which is known as a heart attack.
Where does the conventional medical idea of build-up of arterial plaque, thus causing constricted arteries, fit in with a heart attack? It comes from the increased lactose build up (mentioned above) causing localised edema to alter the hemodynamics within these arteries thus causing a pressure sufficient to rupture the unstable arterial plaques, which further blocks the arteries and worsens the hemodynamics in that area of the heart. And, this is what conventional medicine considers is the prime cause of a heart attack; events or conditions that happen in the coronary arteries which block blood flow to the heart. In fact it is a by-product of an actual heart attack. The coronary artery theory misinterprets the actual pathological events. The spectrum of heart, or coronary artery, disease is better understood from the perspective of events occurring in the actual heart itself.
Coronary arterial sclerosis is a consequence of metabolic dysfunction of the heart, it stiffens and narrows the blood vessels making the blood flow less robust. The cause of this is inflammation, and it is the body’s response to this continued unchecked inflammation activity. Arterial plaque is the body’s compensation for a weakened artery. Cowan quotes a 2004 web article by Dr Ravnskov (The Benefits of High Cholesterol) who makes a case that LDL cholesterol is largely responsible for preventing infections and that people with the lowest LDL levels have the highest mortality rates.
What is key: that is treating the underlying cause of the inflammation, both in the body and in the blood vessels. For this the crucial measurement is C-Reactive Protein (hsCRP). To address the root cause of inflammation is to deal with hyperinsulinemia – elevated insulin levels in the blood (measure HgbA1c, blood sugar level). This occurs when there is a chronic imbalance between the amount of carbohydrates consumed and the amount of carbohydrates a person needs. C-Reactive Protein can be addressed with a prescribed diet (good food, liberal fats, fat soluble nutrients, and low processed carbohydrates and sugars, as well as drinking mineralised and structured water) and movement (20 mins per day of barefoot walking or 30 mins of vigorous outdoor walking, and, once a week high impact high intensity strength training) programme.
The author provides further steps in preventing, or in some cases reducing arthriosclerosis, and other interventions. In particular, for prevention, and treatment, of heart attacks he advocates the use of Enhanced External Counter Pulsation (EECP), which is successful in helping more than 80% of people who use it avoid coronary bypass or stent operations.
To prevent heart attacks he suggests that we must protect and nourish our parasympathetic activity, with activities such as contact with nature (structuring water (blood) from sunlight, the Earth’s electromagnetic field, and the infrared energy that emits from other living beings), restoring to health as many living beings as you can, loving relationships (physical touch with other people – the energy from the hands is a particularly effective way of stimulating blood and water flow), love is essential to maintaining e healthy heart, as is trust, economic security, and sex, and finally, shedding as many beliefs as possible (including the cherished ones) – in a sense adopting a whole new way of life.
And, there is much, much more in the book. There are Appendices on: Heart Diet; Preventing and Treating Angina, Unstable Angina, and Heart Attacks; and, Cholesterol and How to read a Lipid Profile.
Cowan asks us to look anew at the heart, and from his observations comes up with a way of treating heart disease that is more effective and gentle (as above) than conventional medical protocols (such as the medications patients are put on after a heart attack; and their side effects - summed up as: progressive deterioration – induced onset of premature aging). His approach is that of treating people in such a way that makes them stronger and healthier.
A book that is well worth the read. Recommended.
