Track Your Plaque in the news

19. September 2012 William Davis (6)
The NPR Health Blog contacted me, as they were interested in learning more about health strategies and tools that are being used by individuals without their doctors. The Track Your Plaque website and program came up in their quest, as it is the only program available for self-empowerment in heart disease.

Several Track Your Plaque Members spoke up to add their insights. The full text of the article can be viewed here.

How's Your Cholesterol? The Crowd Wants To Know
Mainstream medicine isn't in favor of self-analysis, or seeking advice from non-professionals, of course. And anyone who does so is running a risk.

But there are folks who want to change the course of their heart health with a combination of professional and peer support. Some are bent on tackling the plaque that forms in arteries that can lead to heart disease. They gather online at Track Your Plaque, or "TYP" to the initiates.

"We test, test, test ... and basically experiment on ourselves and have through trial and error came up with the TYP program, which is tailored to the individual," Patrick Theut, a veteran of the site who tells Shots he has watched his plaque slow, stop and regress.

The site was created in 2004 by Bill Davis, a preventive cardiologist in Milwaukee, Wisc. Davis is also the author of Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight and Find Your Path Back to Health, which argues that wheat is addictive and bad for most people's health. Davis recommends eliminating wheat from the diet to most new members of Track Your Plaque.

"The heart is one of the hardest things to self-manage but when you let people take the reins of control, you get far better results and far fewer catastrophes like heart attacks," Davis tells Shots.

Doctors typically give patients diagnosed with heart disease two options: take cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, or make lifestyle changes, like diet. It's usually far easier for both parties — the doctor and the patient — to go with the drugs than manage the much more difficult lifestyle changes, Davis says.

"Doctors say take the Lipitor, cut the fat and call me if you have chest pain," he explains. "But that's an awful way to manage care."

TYP has members submit their scores from heart CT scans, cholesterol values, lipoproteins and other heart health factors to a panel of doctors, nutritionists and exercise specialists. Then they receive advice in the form of an individualized plaque-control program. But the online forum, where users share their results with other members and exchange tips, is where most of the TYP action happens.

The community currently has about 2,400 members who pay $39.95 for a quarterly membership, or $89.75 for a yearly membership. Davis says all proceeds go towards maintaining the website.

Ilaine Upton is a 60-year-old bankruptcy lawyer from Fairfax, Va., and a TYP member. At a friend's suggestion, Upton decided to get a heart CT scan in July. Her score was higher than it should have been (22 instead of 0), so she decided to get her blood lipids and cholesterol tested, too, and sent a sample off to MyMedLabs.com.

She learned that her LDL particle count was over 2,000 ("crazy high," she says), and she posted her results on TYP. Davis advised her that a low-carb diet would reduce it, so she decided to try it.

Since July, she says she has had "excellent results" with the program, and her LDL counts are coming down.

"It would be nice to have a [personal] physician involved in this, but [my insurer] Blue Cross won't pay if you are not symptomatic, and I am trying to prevent becoming symptomatic," says Upton. "I feel very empowered by this knowledge and the ability to take better control of my health by getting feedback on the decisions I make."
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Comments (6) -

  • Ali

    9/24/2012 8:24:33 PM |

    Dear Dr. William Davis,

    You have been a tremendous force in helping me recapturing my life. I called your office today. Let them know that I live in Baltimore Maryland and would like to see if it is possible for you to review some details of my cardiovascular disease status. I can send you my history and blood test information through email. You can interview me over the phone if you feel it is necessary. I can pay the bill related to the “virtual” visits using check, money order, visa, etc and in advance; however the preference is.

    Please advise. Thanks again for having made TrackYourPlaque possible. It is truly a practical tool for shifting the paradigm in health management.

    Ali Khorramshahi
    ............................................................................................................
    DigitaLogic, Inc.
    711 West 40th Street.  Suite 315 Baltimore, MD 21211
    t: 410.662.9500 Ext. 2545 o I o f: 410.662.9400 o I o e: ali@DigitaLogic.com
    c: 443.845.6033
    h: 410-669-3266

  • Dr. Davis

    10/3/2012 1:41:56 AM |

    Thank you, Ali.

    But I would urge you to use the resources here and in the Track Your Plaque program, as well as the information in the Wheat Belly book and blog.

    Given the pressures on my time, I am no longer able to see new patients and am barely able to provide any more teleconferences, as I am traveling to speak and consult for the development of new, alternative, wheat-free foods.

  • Gene K

    10/10/2012 2:43:39 PM |

    Dr Davis,

    It would be nice if your 2nd edition of the Track Your Plaque book were actually published. I've been using it in PDF, but your TYP followers need it as a real book, on par with Wheat Belly. Do you have plans to do it?

    Thank you so much for everything you are doing!

  • Jim Stewart

    11/21/2012 5:41:48 PM |

    I have been scouring your website and have not found what I am looking for.

    I want to lay out for my cardiologist a clear and detailed request as to why he should support the required testing in TYP.  They do not have respect for any course of action other than the current generally  accepted, woefully inadequate, standard of care. I recently had 3 stents to correct 2 100% blockages (RCA and Circumflex).  Kaiser will not pay for scans nor any lipid testing other than total cholesteral since they say the results will not alter their proscribed treatment.  I want to undestand why I have the CAD and take steps to measure and reverse it.  I do not wish to wait till the widowmaker clots too.

  • Dr. Davis

    11/22/2012 1:40:35 AM |

    Then, I fear, Jim, that the answers will not come from your doctor. Your best bet is to get out of the system and/or find someone within the system willing to work with you.

    In effect, your doctor is saying, "I have chosen to ignore the thousands of studies that demonstrate why simple cholesterol testing fails to fully characterize coronary risk in a substantial number of people. I therefore place the burden of proof on YOU."

    Imagine you take your car to the mechanic and ask why the engine isn't running. Instead of providing an answer, the mechanic says, "Hey, if you want your car fixed, then you tell me what you want done!" We would walk out in disgust. You should do the same with your doctor.

    YOU are not the problem. Your doctor is the problem.

  • Susan Brauer

    2/17/2013 3:25:45 AM |

    Can you supply a list of doctors who agree with your approach to heart disease.  I am trying to get my doctor to authorize a VAP test and they will not do it because they have never heard of it before.  It is so aggravating that I can't just get one done.  I live in Springfield, Illinois.

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The Track Your Plaque guide to getting grotesquely overweight

The Track Your Plaque guide to getting grotesquely overweight

15. August 2006 William Davis (0)
If you'd like to gain huge quantities of weight, here's a number of helpful tips:

1) Follow the advice of food manufacturers and eat the products they label "healthy", or "heart healthy", or "part of a nutritious breakfast" etc., like Shredded Wheat cereal, pretzels ("a low-fat snack"!), low- or non-fat salad dressings.

2) Cut your morning calorie intake by skipping breakfast.

3) Hang around with other heavy people. They will confirm that it's okay to be overweight.

4) Call walking your dog "exercise".

5) Get a sedentary desk job. Use your swivel desk chair to scoot about whenever possible, rather than getting up to do things.

6) Say "I've worked hard all week long. Weekends are for relaxing, not for physical activities. I deserve a rest."

7) Eat foods without thinking about it: Eat chips while watching football, eat while on the phone, daydream over the sink.

8) Eat to provide comfort when stressed.

9) Eat foods that have sentimental value, whether or not they're good for you: Freshly-baked cakes that remind you of Mom, Pop Tarts that you used to carry in your lunchbox when you were a kid, hot dogs just like Dad would buy at the baseball stadium.

10) Cut back on sleep and generate insatiable starch cravings.

11) Stack your shelves at home with great variety. That way, you'll always have something to suit your mood.

12) Say to your spouse: "It's none of your damn business what I eat! I'm a grown man/woman!" Prove it by over-indulging in obviously unhealthy foods.

13) Tell yourself that you're just too busy to pay attention to food choices. Just grab whatever you can out of a convenience store or vending machine.

See, it's easy! And that just a start.

Of course, I don't really want you to do any of these things. But if you see yourself in any of the above, and you're struggling with weight, you should seriously rethink your approach.
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Heart disease reversal a big "No No"

Heart disease reversal a big "No No"

11. November 2007 William Davis (7)
I dare you: Ask your doctor whether coronary heart disease can be reversed.

My prediction is that the answer will be a flat "NO." Or, something like "rarely, in extraordinary cases," kind of like spontaneous cure of cancer.

There are indeed discussions that have developed over the years in the conventional scientific and medical literature about reversal of heart disease, like Dean Ornish's Lifestyle Heart Trial, the REVERSAL Trial of atorvastatin (Lipitor) and the ASTEROID Trial of rosuvastatin (Crestor). Reversal of atherosclerotic plaque in these trials tends to be small in scale and sporadic.

Of course, the medical literature is swamped with studies that have nothing to do with reversal, like what stent is best, what platelet-inhibiting intravenous drug is best, when should angioplasty or stents be used and when, do implantable defibrillators save lives, improvements in coronary bypass techniques, etc. There are tens of thousands of these studies for every study that focuses on the question of atherosclerotic plaque reversal.

The concept of reversal of heart disease has simply not gained a foothold in the lexicon nor in the thinking of practicing physicians. Heart disease is a relentlessly, unavoidably, and helplessly progressive disease in their way of thinking. Perhaps we can reduce the likelihood of cardiovascular events like heart attack and death with statin drugs and beta blockers. But reverse heart disease ? In your dreams!

We need to change this mentality. Heart disease is a reversible phenomenon. Atherosclerosis in other territories like the carotid arteries is also a reversible pheneomenon. Rather than throwing medicines and (ineffective) diets at you (like the ridiculous American Heart Association program), what if your doctor set out from the start not just to reduce events, but to purposefully reduce your heart's plaque? While it might not succeed in everyone, it would certainly change the focus dramatically.

After all, isn't this the theme followed in cancer treatment? If you had a tumor, isn't cure the goal? Would we accept an oncologist's advice to simply reduce the likelihood of death from cancer but ignore the idea of ridding yourself completely of the disease? I don't think so.

Then why accept "event reduction" as a goal in heart disease? We shouldn't have to. Heart disease reversal--elimination--should be the goal.
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Comments (7) -

  • Anonymous

    11/12/2007 11:37:00 PM |

    Hi Dr. Davis,

    I'm new to reading your blog.  Does your program actually reduce plaque in arteries?

  • Dr. Davis

    11/12/2007 11:46:00 PM |

    Yes. Please refer to the main website, www.trackyourplaque.com, for full details, including many of our success stories.

  • VeganHeartDoc

    11/19/2007 12:32:00 AM |

    Dr. Davis, I'm 100% in agreement.  I think that we as a medical community view our patients as lazy, not willing to make the changes to their lifestyles and diets needed.  And for most, sadly, we're right, our patients are stuck in their ways of eating and sitting on their rear ends.  But for those few very motivated patients, who essentially go vegetarian and take up an active lifestyle, they can do quite well.

    I'm skeptical of your theories on fasting, though.  I've never heard of an article in a peer-reviewed journal that supports periodic fasting in coronary disease.

  • Dr. Davis

    11/19/2007 2:56:00 AM |

    Yes.

    Though my approach articulated in the Track Your Plaque program for reversal of heart disease is based on genuine science, my thoughts on fasting are admittedly based only on experience with patients, but not on scientific examination.

    But can't the experiences of real life serve as the basis for future scientific scrutiny?

  • Anonymous

    10/17/2009 1:59:55 PM |

    Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn has published numerous scientific papers on the elimination and prevention of heart disease. For more information go to http://www.heartattackproof.com

  • heartMonitron

    7/12/2010 9:55:50 PM |

    Why are Esselstyn's and Ornish's dietary plans not “palatable” to the public? Despite all the evidence pointing to their efficacy?

    For two and and a half year now, I have, like you, tried to present the virtues of their plans on the web. Obviously, that page gets, by far, the the highest bounce rate. When I look at the time spent on the page, it points to the time at which most readers will encounter the word vegetarian. They then flee and run away.

    This has to be somewhat of a cultural nature. As North Americans we have been brought up in a culture that sees the ingestion of meat as being “Manly” and the ingestion of legumes and vegetables as being sissy or belonging to the female gender. Some TV ads for a notorious Nutritional System even talk about “man food”.

    I am not surprised that real food is hard to push. The consumer is bombarded by constant advertising from the meat-packing industry and the fast food industry. The physician is also heavily courted by the pharmaceutical industry ...telling him / her that their pill is better than any diet. Physicians also know that, the moment they mention the word “vegetarian”, they will see the patient immediately lose interest in the important things they try to convey.

    For a page with a high “vegetarian” bounce rate, view: http://www.heartmonitron.com/hm_meddigest_journals_on_nutrition-_heart_and_diabetes-_cholesterol_and_healthy_weight_003.htm

    This phenomenon has to be cultural. We view the ingestion of meat as being the best thing we can do. I, sincerely, wish you the very best luck in your endeavor. As for me, I will keep advocating those principles that have proven to be capable of reversing CHD and shrinking plaque.

    heartMonitron,
    NGBeditor

  • buy jeans

    11/3/2010 8:48:35 PM |

    After all, isn't this the theme followed in cancer treatment? If you had a tumor, isn't cure the goal? Would we accept an oncologist's advice to simply reduce the likelihood of death from cancer but ignore the idea of ridding yourself completely of the disease? I don't think so.

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