Readers blog: Irish Heart Foundation hasn’t told us the full story

The Irish Heart Foundation tells us that 10,000 people die each year from cardiovascular disease — mainly stroke and heart attacks — caused by a build-up of fatty deposits in our arteries. They tell those of us already diagnosed with the disease that standard treatment is an effective way of preventing a heart attack or stroke.

While lifestyle changes such as daily exercise and not smoking are certainly necessary, the drugs and a few dietary changes that make up standard treatment do not halt or reverse the disease. As a result, thousands of patients require invasive procedures such as stenting and bypass surgery, while many others suffer heart attacks, strokes and early death.

What the Irish Heart Foundation doesn’t tell us is that there is a better way. In the US, Dr Dean Ornish and Dr Caldwell Esselstyn Jr have been successfully using a plant-based, no-oil diet, along with lifestyle interventions to halt the progression of cardiovascular disease, reversing it in many cases, prevent heart attacks and strokes, relieve angina, normalise blood pressure and so on. Furthermore, this approach has no side-effects and improves the patient’s overall health. Their methods have been scientifically proven and the results published in medical journals.