Understanding the Heart: Surprising Insights into the Evolutionary Origins of Heart Disease—and Why It Matters

"The most mind-blowing information on heart disease. . . . I consider this to be the best book I've ever read on cardiovascular health."--Ben Greenfield, New York Times bestselling author Heart disease is the number-one killer in the world. Despite ever-advancing medical procedures and more and more powerful pharmaceutical drugs, the rate of heart disease continues to rise. According to Dr. Stephen Hussey, this is due in part to misunderstandings about how the heart really functions and how to keep it healthy. These misunderstandings result in improper medical approaches and off-target intervention therapies. As a type 1 diabetic, Dr. Hussey has always known that he was at two to four times greater risk of developing heart disease. As a result, he has dedicated his entire adult life to understanding the heart, to prevent himself from becoming a statistic. And then his worst nightmare came true. Dr. Hussey suffered a "STEMI," a blockage in the left anterior descending artery of his heart. STEMIs are typically so fatal that they are known as "widowmakers." Only 12 percent of those who experience them outside of a hospital setting survive. Dr. Hussey was among the lucky 12 percent, but faced a difficult decision during his recovery: follow the standard of care laid out for him by the attending cardiologist, or politely decline and apply everything he'd learned about the heart to a recovery protocol that would look massively different than what the doctors were recommending. In Understanding the Heart, Dr. Hussey shares the information that guided him through the highest-stakes decision of his life, including: A large body of research suggesting that the heart is not the main mover of blood in the body, and what that means for your overall health The evolutionary origins of the nervous system, and how these manifest today in rampant rates of heart disease Deep analysis of the widely accepted idea that saturated fat and cholesterol will clog your arteries The importance of reducing oxidative stress for a heart healthy lifestyle In Understanding the Heart, Dr. Stephen Hussey lays bare everything he has learned in his deep investigation into the heart, and guides you on a path to prevent disease in the context of a highly diseased modern world in order to enjoy lifelong good health.