The dirty little secret about aneurysms

2. June 2006 William Davis (1)
Jake had an abdominal aneurysm identified--by accident.

While getting a CT scan of his abdomen for unexplained abdominal pain, a 4.4 cm aneurysm was discovered. Jake's abdominal pain eventually passed without explanation, but he was left with this aneurysm.

Jake's primary care doctor referred him to a surgeon. "It's too small to require surgery right now. Wait a few years and it'll probably get bigger. When it gets to around 5.5 cm, that'll be the time to operate. Let's schedule an abdominal ultrasound or CT scan every 6 months."

Jake then got himself a heart scan. His high score of 879 then led him to my office. Lipoprotein testing, a stress test, correction of his lipoprotein patterns, changes in lifestyle followed. One year later, Jake's heart scan score was unchanged.

How about his abdominal aneurysm? 4.2 cm--a modest quantity of regression. When Jake's surgeon learned of the change, he just shrugged. "Okay, we'll just watch it from here."

Shockingly, the conversation surrounding aneurysms is just like the one Jake received: Let's just watch it grow until you need surgery.

If you've every seen anyone have abdominal aneurysm surgery, you know it is an awful, painful, barbaric process with high risk for major complications like kidney failure and loss of the legs. Waiting for an aneurysm to grow is a lousy solution. Surgeons point out that, although surgery is imperfect, it's better than the alternative: rupture, which is catastrophic with a 50% chance of dying.

But what about stopping the growth of the aneurysm? Or even reversing, or shrinking, it?

Surgeons say it can't be done. Yet we've done it--many times. And it's not that difficult.

The steps to take are very similar to that in the Track Your Plaque program for coronary plaque regression, with a few different strategies. Suppression of inflammation, for instance, plays a more important role and blood pressure must be abolutely normal, even during exercise.

More to come on this important topic in the future, including an upcoming Special Report on the www.cureality.com membership website.
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Comments (1) -

  • Deb

    7/14/2010 8:58:32 AM |

    I'm glad I found this blog after finding out that I may have a 1.7 spleen aneurysm (need ultrasound to confirm). Will study this and the other blog you have for ideas. Also it is first year my cholesterol was over 200 (218) in years and I think diet can be related. I asked this on other comment but am wondering about spelt flour and breads made with it claiming to be wheat-free.

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Scientists are freakin' liars

Scientists are freakin' liars

14. May 2011 William Davis (3)
So says Tom Naughton, referring to the frequent misinterpretations or misrepresentations of data that characterize much medical research. Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt posted Tom Naughton's recent wonderfully engaging and hilarious talk from Jimmy Moore's Low-Carb Cruise on his Diet Doctor blog.

Comedian and blogger Tom Naughton, also the filmmaker of the movie Fat Head, has brought humor and personality into the low-carb movement. I told my wife to watch it and I could hear her laughing from 30 feet away while watching her laptop.

Dr. Eenfeldt is a sensation of sorts himself, making a big low-carb splash in Sweden. While I missed the cruise this year (due to time pressures), it's clear that Eenfeldt and Naughton have contributed substantially to helping people understand the nonsense that passes as dietary advice in the U.S. and the world.

I watched Naughton's talk while eating my three eggs scrambled with ricotta cheese. I almost spit my eggs out at the computer screen I was laughing so hard.

 
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  • John Naruwan

    5/15/2011 1:14:56 AM |

    The video link doesn't work. [You've got an "o" at the end instead of a "0".]
    Here's the right one:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=y1RXvBveht0

  • Annie

    5/22/2011 6:02:59 PM |

    Dear Dr. Davis,
    Thank you for providing such life-saving info.  
    My husband's uncle is 69 and has already had one bypass and also suffers from advanced renal carcinoma.  In the past, his docs suggested the typical zero fat, very low protein diet.  His heart disease advanced.  Now he is able to eat more protein because he is on dialysis.  His cancer is under control and his doc have informed him that his greaterst health threat is heart disease.  He wants to reverse his placque but conventional medicine and wrong diet advice have failed him.  He is the type who is extremely motivated and will absolutely comply with a big diet overhaul plus exercise (he currently walks half a mile per day but was extremely athletic into his 50s until kidney cancer struck -- then heart disease) and I would like to suggest that he sign up for your Track Your Plaque program and refer him to your blog as well as that of Nephropal.  He lives in Boston and I am wondering if you have  any collegues there who could help him implement and oversee the Track Your Plaque strategies given his grave situation.  He understands that there are no guarantees but what he's done in the past has failed miserably so is ready to try a new approach and is able to eat decent amounts of protein now.  Any suggestions you may have would be most appreciated.

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