The Heart Healers: The Misfits, Mavericks, and Rebels Who Created the Greatest Medical Breakthrough of Our Lives

If you have even the slightest interest in medicine or medical history OR have heart disease and would like to understand how much and HOW progress has been made in this field, you will thoroughly enjoy this book! It is non-fiction which reads like the most exciting medical fiction book you can imagine. The stories of the technological advances and the personal grit, determination, and brilliance that led to them will amaze you. There will be times when your jaw drops- the stories just seem unreal. You will be seized by the awe of it all and, sometimes, the tragedy of it as life stories of these giants are told. This book is written by someone who contributed greatly to this field and knew many of the giants he talks about as friends. There are some incredible stories that were left out- the prominent cardiologist who discovered that a widely publicized and very profitable medication actually resulted in cardiac events and death and SAID something loudly and publicly and effectively, thereby losing the career he had at the time (although he has gone on to play an even more prominent role in medicine) is one story that speaks of the finest in medicine (there are many others). This book is a really wonderful contribution to understanding the incredible science and doctors (including Dr. Forrester) who have advanced the technology and science of cardiovascular medicine and surgery. Well written, you will not want to put this book down! It is THAT interesting!!!
The final chapters which explain how all this knowledge can be used by the reader and his/her family and friends to avoid cardiovascular disease is the icing on the cake of this masterpiece. Anyone with an interest in science and medicine will find this to be one of the most fascinating books he/she has ever read (right up there with the Emperor of All Maladies)!

THE HEART HEALERS recounts the entire history of heart surgery (never attempted before WWII) in such a readable fashion, I could hardly put the book down. Written by Cedars-Sinai Hospital's former Chief of Cardiology (Dr. James S. Forrester), it is highly authoritative, because the author thoroughly understands the nature of heart disease. The book is quite extraordinary, because Dr. Forrester (as a practicing, teaching cardiologist) personally experienced many of the changes in the treatment of heart disease that directly resulted from the medical breakthroughs described in his book. In fact, Dr. Forrester was or is acquainted with many of the research surgeons (many are now deceased) whose discoveries have shaped today's increasingly safe and effective treatments for heart disease.

This book certainly makes the case for NOT submitting to any kind of experimental heart surgery--surgeons do kill patients, when they encounter the unexpected, or when their theories fail to take some overlooked but important factor into account. Many desperate patients died when the surgeons' experimental ideas and techniques were being perfected. But the book also explains why so few of today's patients will even need experimental surgery--medical intervention before, during, and after a heart attack is now so effective that if a patient makes it alive to a cardiac care unit, the patient will NOT die. Often repairs to the heart can be made by catheterization, without opening the patient's chest for closed- or open-heart surgery.

Probably the most interesting thing that I learned, is that heart bypass and heart valve replacement surgeries do NOT prevent heart attacks. All they do is restore blood flow to the heart and prevent further heart muscle death. Bypass and valve replacement surgery is now very safe--the vast majority of patients survive the surgery and live for year(s) afterwards. But the prevention of heart attacks depends on controlling the rupture of atheromas (plaques) inside the arteries. The atheromas are like pimples in the arteries--they result from inflammation due to excess fat/cholesterol transfer through the artery walls, and from the body's natural immune response to inflammation.

The way to control plaques, is to eat a heart-healthy diet--not a low-fat diet, but a diet that lowers the "bad" cholesterol (LDL cholesterol) in your blood. This diet emphasizes non-hydrogenated unsaturated fats, whole grains for carbohydrates, abundant fruits and vegetables, and adequate omega-3 fatty acids. And of course the diet needs to be supplemented with regular physical activity, avoidance of smoking, and maintenance of appropriate body weight. In older people, who already have considerable plaque in their arteries (as part of an inevitable natural process that begins in adolescence), taking a statin drug (e.g., Crestor, Lipitor) will offer further protection.

THE HEART HEALERS is primarily a history of cardiology, intended for a general audience, and the stories it recounts are fascinating. Many of the breakthroughs were serendipitous--as when an out-of-control catheter injected dye directly into a patient's coronary artery, and the patient's heart merely paused, instead of stopping or going into uncontrolled fatal fibrillation as surgeons believed would happen.

But the book is also reassuring in its overall conclusion that heart disease is going to disappear as the nation's number one killer, because of the tremendous advancements that have been made in cardiology. In truth, this book has inspired me to make some personal lifestyle changes--because it clearly demonstrates that eating right and exercising are worth the effort, no matter when you start.

Great book about the procession of great and innovative physicians who made the modern miracle of cardiac surgery possible. Also a wonderful reminder of how much the treatment of heart disease has changed in the last 100 or so years. A must read for any surgical or non-surgical heart doctor.

My husband knew so many of the people cited but felt there some special ones missing. He was introdced to this book by a physician nephew in Australia!

Very interesting book, especially if you have had heart problems or know someone who has. Informative and easy to read.

It seems like a quixotic task: describe scientific decades of research across the globe in a way that makes you turn the page with anticipation... But that is just what Dr. Forrester has done in "The Heart Healers." With a voice that never talks down to the reader, Dr. Forrester weaves the threads of his narrative together beautifully and brings us into the inner sanctum of a subject that is as important as it might be scary: heart health. Done with gusto and erudition!

In 1984, a cardiac surgeon saved my dad's life. He used a newly-developed technique, learnt from his visits to the US and brought it to our city. Dr Forrester tells the story of the mavericks and pioneers of those techniques, the sacrifices they made, the breakthroughs they achieved, the persistence they employed and the barriers they broke. It's a fascinating story, engagingly told. I was amazed that such a technical subject was handled without photos or diagrams, a testament to someone with a gift for telling a story. It's a specialized topic which all of us have been touched by, directly or indirectly, but which few of us know the background of. Dr Forrester enlightens us in riveting style, helping to explain to a layman like me, the amazing developments that brought us to where we are today. Unbeknown to me, I read Dr Forrester's book at the very time my dad's surgeon himself passed on. Dad's surgeon was both a pioneer and a maverick - one of those Dr Forrester writes of, the story of the wonderful, gifted, devoted doctors who helped - and help - millions of people, one of whom was my dad. Read this book - you will love it.

For a layperson like myself, reading The Heart Healers not only deepened my understanding of cardiology's extraordinary technical advances but also humanized the physician-scientists and patients who made those advances possible.

RIVETING ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGINS OF CARDIAC MEDICINE! IT WAS HARD TO PUT THE BOOK DOWN BECAUSE IT WAS SO INTERESING! AUTHOR'S ACCOUNT GEARED TO THE LAYMAN! LOT'S OF REFERENCES IN THE APPENDIX FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO READ MORE ABOUT THE PIONEERS OF CARDIAC MEDICINE!

This is an excellent book that highlights the fascinating characters who have led the modern revolution in the treatment of heart disease. Dr Forrester provides some unique and personal insights into the events of the last 50 years of cardiovascular medicine