How to Talk Your Cardiologist out of Drugs and Surgery

A person wearing a white lab coat has just uttered, "massive cardiovascular disease." Perhaps you have survived a recent heart attack. You and your family are frightened. Slowly more words, "Ticking time bomb." "High cholesterol." "Elevated enzymes." "Eminent death." The cardiologist recommends that you immediately begin taking three or four drugs, including a "life saving" statin, cholesterol-lowering drug. You are given "priority" scheduling for various diagnostic tests, such as a treadmill "stress test" or "angiogram." Depending on the outcome of these tests, you may be a candidate for either an "angioplasty" procedure or a coronary bypass-graph operation.

According to statistics published by the American Heart Association, the above scenario plays out more than 1000 times every day in the United States. Most patients are scared to death. They and their families do not realize that the knowledge cardiologists have regarding heart disease is filtered to them by medical journals and pharmaceutical interests. There are safer alternatives to risky heart medications and surgery, but you are unlikely to hear about them from your doctor. Your objective should be to inform your doctor about the Linus Pauling therapy, and then secure her agreement to try this alternative approach first, under direct medical supervision.

YOUR FIRST STEP: KNOW THE RISKS

It is possible to soften the average medical doctor’s resistance to alternative treatments. You must a) know the risks , b) ask your doctor detailed questions about each risk, and then c) request medical supervision while you adopt a much safer alternative.

Most people trustingly accept heart medication that is routinely prescribed by cardiologists. Even doctors may not be aware of some of the risks in the medications they prescribe. Use the Internet/library to study the risks as if your life depends upon it, because it does. The more you know, the better.

The best approach is to ask the doctor intelligent questions about each and every known or potential risk With your notes in hand, meet with and ask your doctor questions, first general, then detailed specific questions, such as the ones in the following papagraphs. For added effect, bring a tape recorder. Ask your physician if she would be willing to have her answers recorded. If not, bring a note pad and take copious notes.

Be persistent. For example, after the doctor responds to your first general question "Can you tell me the risks in the procedures and drugs that you are recommending?" you must follow up the usual canned answer, "the risks from the drugs and testing procedures are minimal," with more specific questions. We suggest asking all of the following:

1. How often do people have strokes or die during or immediately after heart surgery or angioplasty? (Consider that 2% of 400,000 procedures is 8000! The number for the "less risky" angioplasty is 3.2% to 6.2%, depending on the drugs administered.)

2. "What is restenosis? Doesn't the atherosclerotic plaque grow back, after angioplasty or a coronary bypass surgery, in 40% or more of the cases? Doesn't the regrowth occlude the coronary arteries even more than before the procedure? What causes this regrowth and what are the odds of restenosis in my case?

3. "What about brain damage? The Discovery Health channel reports that open-heart-surgery, using a heart-lung machine, leads to diminished brain function in more than 40% of those undergoing these operations. Apparently, the risk of brain damage was the reason former President Clinton had the "beating- heart" style heart surgery. What can you tell me about this risk? What kind of surgery are you recommending for me?

4. "How often does the first operation fail? Why are follow-up heart operations often required, as in the case of former President Clinton? How often are follow-up heart surgeries required, and why does fluid build up around the heart?

5. "Don't statin drugs cause heart failure in many people?

You have recommended that I take a cholesterol-lowering statin drug (e.g. Lipitor, Mevacor, Zocor, Crestor, etc.). Its my understanding that these drugs deplete an important substance called Coenzyme Q10, and that this coenzyme is required for energy in the mitochondria of cells. If there is no coQ10, cells die. I know that a group of medical doctors blame these statin drugs for the recent increase in heart failures. Merck has several patents (1990) on how to overcome the CoQ10 depletion issue by adding CoQ10 to the statin drugs, but these Merck patents have never been implemented. Canada requires warnings about the CoQ10-depletion effect in their drug ads, and I know that the FDA is being sued to require these warnings in American drug ads.

Why would I want to take a drug that depletes my energy and may lead to heart failure?

6. "I read that statins are nothing more than an isolated poison derived from the fungus known as red yeast rice (Monascus purpurus). [*] This plant makes lovostatin to protect itself from predators which die because their cholesterol and CoQ10 decline after ingesting the rice. If statins are nothing more than toxins, why are they so popular?

7. "Why is the Heart Protection Study hiding their raw data? I know from reading letters to the Lancet medical journal that in the more recent studies that are used to justify the "life saving" nature of cholesterol-lowering drugs, the raw study data is being withheld. Prior studies have shown little or no change in overall mortality in the statin groups. [*] The Heart Protection study at Oxford, which is used to justify Zocor ads, has never released its raw study data. Why do they hide their data? Why does medicine tolerate such behavior?

8. "What does it mean when a medical journal says that post-mortem plaques are "more complex?" I read in a medical journal that the Heart Protection Study researchers at Oxford observed, post-mortem, that those taking statin cholesterol-lowering drugs had more "complex" plaques than the placebo group. [*]

9. "Why do cholesterol-lowering drugs elevate, rather than lower Lp(a)? The statin drug ads in Canadian medical journals also have warnings that these drugs will elevate lipoprotein(a). I know that Linus Pauling stated that this form of cholesterol poses the most risk. Please tell me more about Lp(a) cholesterol.

10. "Do you have scientific information about the risks in the newer metal stents that are routinely placed in arteries to keep the artery open? I've read that some contain radiation pellets, is this true? What is the radiation for, and how do I know the long-term consequences? Can a stent be taken out once it is inserted? Isn't restenosis still a problem with stents, even the newer models?

11. "Doctors who promote the alternative EDTA chelation therapy argue that while bypass and angioplasty repair only a few inches of arteries near the heart. EDTA chelation therapy may improve the health of the entire cardiovascular system. Is there a reason we couldn’t try this therapy first?

12. "I've read that each year some 500,000 people experience blood infections after an I.V., and that 30,000 die from these infections. What is the record of blood infections in the hospital you are associated with?

13. "Are there any other risks connected with the drugs or invasive procedures that you are likely to recommend that I haven’t mentioned? "

FOLLOW-UP: OFFER THE "NO RISK" OPTION

Linus Pauling identified the problem of heart disease as the human body’s response to chronic vitamin C insufficiency. The Pauling ideas are backed by a sound theory and basic science. You might say something such as:

"I have read on the Internet that the late scientist Linus Pauling recommended high doses of vitamin C, and lysine, as a means of quickly reversing cardiovascular disease. I know this approach has never been clinically tested, but Pauling remarked that such a test was probably not necessary because the substances are completely non-toxic. You cannot kill an animal with any dose of either vitamin C or lysine.

"Pauling’s recommendations are based on the knowledge of the Lysine Binding Site on the Lipoprotein(a) molecule. I am also aware of thousands of anecdotal reports of great success taking 5 to 6 g of both vitamin C and lysine daily.

" I’d like to try this approach under your supervision before resorting to riskier, and more expensive, medications and procedures. Are you willing to supervise such an experiment for 30 days, and if there is progress, for 3 to six months? If not, why not? "

If your physician’s primarily interest is your welfare, she will be curious. Many doctors are willing to monitor patient progress for some short period of time. Most won’t believe that "vitamin therapy" will do any good, but they will go along with your suggestion. You can make the most of this opportunity by following the entire Pauling protocol under your doctor's supervision. Make sure you obtain copies of the initial lab reports.

THE DOUBLE STANDARD

One problem you may encounter is that your cardiologist has been trained to believe that the likelihood that a vitamin C deficiency causes heart disease is about zero. Medical doctors are apt to consider evolutionary arguments in dismissing the need for vitamin C in daily amounts above the government recommended daily allowance. They may ask how humans evolved to require so much more vitamin C than is available in the ordinary diet. Yet, this same argument carries no weight regarding cholesterol. Your physician readily accepts the notion that your body’s natural production of cholesterol is flawed. Most doctors believe that cholesterol levels need to be lowered by expensive modern pharmaceuticals, even if the only symptom of disease is "high cholesterol."

MY DOCTOR IS STUBORN

If your cardiologist rejects the "absurd" Pauling-therapy suggestion, you might ask another follow-up question about EDTA Chelation Therapy.

"Isn’t the NIH running a large trial on something called EDTA chelation therapy, and isn’t EDTA approved by the FDA for the removal of lead from the body? Some doctors believe that it can also remove heavy metals, and perhaps even calcium. Many alternative doctors and patients rave about the benefits of EDTA. Why don’t you recommend this approach which, if it works, helps the entire cardiovascular system? "

As the pressure is increased, some physicians may exhibit anger, knowing that few patients wish to provoke anger in their doctors. If your cardiologist becomes angry, ask yourself why should questions regarding potentially safe and effective alternatives elicit anger?

Unfortunately, there are some doctors who will tell you that if your pursue any other course of treatment, other than that which they recommend, they can no longer be your doctor. (It is best to have this declaration recorded on tape). Our best advice is to take them up on their offer and find another physician. (We know that for many types of insurance programs, people don’t have the luxury of changing doctors. Many are forced to go along with the suggested treatment, or risk losing their insurance. In this case, you are out of luck.)

It is hoped that this approach to talking with your doctor about alternatives will help you avoid needless surgery and expensive toxic drugs that generally cause more problems than they solve. If you found this pamphlet helpful, please let us know. We are interested in patient stories, successes and failures. If you discover more risks, please contact us so that we might include them in future publications.