Making heart attacks history: Caldwell Esselstyn at TEDxCambridge
-
0:15 - 0:18Coronary artery disease
is the leading killer -
0:18 - 0:21of women and men in Western civilization.
-
0:22 - 0:25Yet the truth be known, it is nothing more
-
0:25 - 0:27than a toothless paper tiger
that need never exist. -
0:27 - 0:30And if it does exist,
it need never ever progress. -
0:31 - 0:33This is a food borne illness.
-
0:34 - 0:39My story begins, actually,
in the late 1970s, early 80s, -
0:39 - 0:42when I was chairman of the breast cancer
task force at the Cleveland Clinic. -
0:43 - 0:46My frustration was that no matter
for how many women -
0:46 - 0:51I was doing breast surgery, I was doing
nothing for the next unsuspecting victim. -
0:53 - 0:56This led to a bit of global research.
-
0:56 - 0:59It was quite striking to find
that breast cancer rates in Kenya -
1:00 - 1:04were something like 30 or 40 times
less frequent than in the United States. -
1:05 - 1:09And if you looked at breast cancer rates
in rural Japan in the 1950s, -
1:10 - 1:12it was very infrequently identified.
-
1:13 - 1:18And yet as soon as the Japanese women
would migrate to the United States, -
1:18 - 1:20by the second and third generation.
-
1:20 - 1:22they now had the same rate
of breast cancer -
1:22 - 1:24as their Caucasian counterparts.
-
1:24 - 1:28But even more powerful perhaps
was data on cancer of the prostate. -
1:30 - 1:33In 1958, in the entire nation of Japan,
-
1:34 - 1:37how many autopsy proven deaths
were there from cancer of the prostate? -
1:38 - 1:3918.
-
1:39 - 1:43That's the most mind-boggling public
health figure I think I've ever heard. -
1:44 - 1:45But I made a decision then,
-
1:45 - 1:48that I was concerned
that my bones would long be dust -
1:48 - 1:52before I could really get answers
between nutrition and cancer. -
1:52 - 1:57And so I chose to deal
with cardiovascular disease, -
1:57 - 2:00which is the leading killer of women
and men in Western civilization. -
2:01 - 2:03And it was quite striking
that in this global review -
2:04 - 2:09there were a number of cultures,
by heritage and tradition, -
2:09 - 2:15that simply lack
any cardiovascular disease. -
2:15 - 2:16They were plant-based.
-
2:17 - 2:22And so with that information
I came back to Cleveland. -
2:22 - 2:28And my wife and I decided to go
on this plant-based diet for a year. -
2:29 - 2:31And then I asked cardiology
if I could have -
2:31 - 2:33about 24 patients, which is the number
-
2:33 - 2:37that I can handle and still carry out
my surgical obligations. -
2:38 - 2:41And the 24 patients that I received,
-
2:41 - 2:45were, as my late brother-in-law
used to say, the walking dead. -
2:46 - 2:47But they were most cooperative
-
2:48 - 2:54and it was within about, say,
15 months of starting this program -
2:55 - 2:57that we had something striking develop.
-
2:57 - 3:03I was treating a 52-year-old gentleman
who, in addition to his heart disease, -
3:04 - 3:08had a partially blocked artery
in his right thigh. -
3:09 - 3:12And he told me about the fact
-
3:12 - 3:17that when he was crossing the skyway
to my office, he had to stop five times -
3:17 - 3:20because of pain in this calf,
because of this blocked artery. -
3:20 - 3:23So I had him go to the vascular lab
and we got his pulse volume. -
3:24 - 3:27And then I forgot all about his leg,
so focused on his heart. -
3:27 - 3:30Eight months later, he said,
"Dr. Esselstyn do you recall -
3:30 - 3:32when I first started seeing you,
-
3:32 - 3:36I had to stop five times crossing
the skyway here to your office? -
3:36 - 3:41This last month, it got to be four times,
then it was three, two, one,". -
3:41 - 3:46He said, "I don't stop anymore,
the pain is gone". -
3:46 - 3:48"Don, back you go to the vascular lab."
-
3:49 - 3:52I think if you look here, you can see
the difference in pulse volume -
3:52 - 3:56when I first saw him,
and here we were eight months later, -
3:57 - 3:59it was now almost two times greater.
-
4:00 - 4:02So the thing that was
so exciting about this was, -
4:03 - 4:07in science we had demonstrated
what we call "proof of concept." -
4:09 - 4:15Not only that, but this occurred one year
before the invention of the statin drugs. -
4:16 - 4:19So this was so powerful, because
it showed us that indeed with nutrition, -
4:19 - 4:23we can actually not only halt
this disease, but we could reverse it. -
4:23 - 4:28And not shortly thereafter, what occurred,
we saw this now in the heart. -
4:29 - 4:34This is a 54-year-oold security guard
where our angiography core laboratory -
4:34 - 4:37described this as a 30% improvement.
-
4:37 - 4:43But what really got our attention
was a fellow surgeon at the clinic -
4:43 - 4:48who, at age 44 in 1996,
began to get chest pain. -
4:49 - 4:52He did not have hypertension,
he did not have diabetes, -
4:52 - 4:54he did not have a strong family history,
he was not overweight -
4:55 - 5:00and cardiology worked him up
in October of 1996, could find nothing. -
5:01 - 5:05Three weeks later, he was finishing
his surgical schedule. -
5:06 - 5:08Sat down to write
post-operative orders. -
5:09 - 5:15Splitting headache, immediately followed
by this crushing elephant in his chest, -
5:15 - 5:16pain in his shoulder down his arm.
-
5:16 - 5:18Joe was having a heart attack.
-
5:18 - 5:22Whipped down to the cath lab,
start the catheterization, cardiac arrest, -
5:23 - 5:26resuscitate, and finish
the catheterization. -
5:27 - 5:29And then he was sent up to the floors
-
5:29 - 5:33and discharged three days later,
but very depressed. -
5:33 - 5:33Why?
-
5:33 - 5:37Because what they identified was that
-
5:37 - 5:41his left anterior descending coronary
artery, in the front of the heart, -
5:41 - 5:44the entire lower third
was moth-eaten and diseased, -
5:44 - 5:49over too long a segment to have stents,
too far down the artery to have a bypass. -
5:51 - 5:53So he was very depressed about this,
-
5:53 - 5:56so my wife Anne and I had him out
to the house with his wife for supper, -
5:56 - 5:58two weeks after his heart attack.
-
6:00 - 6:02"Joe you've been eating
this typical Western diet. -
6:04 - 6:06You've got the typical Western disease.
-
6:06 - 6:09We've got 10 years of data,
how about going plant-based?" -
6:10 - 6:14"Okay Ess, I'll give it a shot,
they couldn't offer me anything else." -
6:15 - 6:21He became the absolute personification
of commitment to plant-based nutrition. -
6:22 - 6:29And over the next thirty months
he then had another angiogram. -
6:29 - 6:33You know, up in the surgical suites,
our offices are three doors apart. -
6:34 - 6:40And at noontime of the day
that I knew earlier that morning -
6:40 - 6:42he had his follow-up angiogram,
-
6:43 - 6:46I found myself letting myself
into his office. -
6:46 - 6:47There he was sitting behind his desk,
-
6:49 - 6:53"Joe, I understand you had the follow-up
angiogram this morning, -
6:53 - 6:55Mind sharing with me, how did it go?"
-
6:55 - 7:01Got up from around his desk, put his arms
around me, "I think we're doing okay." -
7:02 - 7:05"Well, any chance I could see
the follow-up angiogram?" -
7:06 - 7:07"Yeah!"
-
7:07 - 7:13It was really quite striking and exciting
to see what actually can happen; -
7:14 - 7:17when you give the body
every opportunity it can. -
7:17 - 7:19The healing capacity is incredible.
-
7:20 - 7:24So now let's talk a little bit
about how do you injure the artery -
7:24 - 7:27in the first place,
what seems to be going wrong. -
7:28 - 7:31Now on the right, there is
a seriously diseased artery. -
7:31 - 7:34You're probably saying,
"That's going to have a heart attack." -
7:34 - 7:37No, that only causes
about 10% of heart attacks, -
7:37 - 7:40but it certainly will cause chest pain
and shortness of breath. -
7:40 - 7:43What I really want you
to notice is on the left, -
7:43 - 7:46and here, on the inside of this artery,
-
7:46 - 7:53there's a very, very, tiny, little dark
single layer of cell "magic carpet", -
7:53 - 7:57that all experts would agree is where
the inception of this disease occurs. -
7:57 - 8:00This magic carpet is called
the endothelium. -
8:00 - 8:04And the endothelium has an absolutely
magic molecule that it produces. -
8:05 - 8:07It's a gas, nitric oxide.
-
8:08 - 8:10Nitric oxide has a number
of wonderful functions. -
8:11 - 8:14Nitric oxide keeps
our blood flowing smoothly -
8:14 - 8:16like Teflon, rather than velcro.
-
8:16 - 8:20Two, nitric oxide is the strongest
vasodilator in the body. -
8:20 - 8:24When you climb stairs,
the arteries to your heart dilate, -
8:24 - 8:26the arteries to your legs dilate.
-
8:27 - 8:31Nitric oxide inhibits inflammation
from the wall of the artery, -
8:31 - 8:34protect you from getting hypertension,
and most importantly -
8:35 - 8:38nitric oxide, in plentiful amounts,
-
8:38 - 8:42will protect you from ever
developing blockages or plaque. -
8:44 - 8:48Alright, how do those
90% of heart attacks occur? -
8:49 - 8:51You will see here the artery is divided.
-
8:52 - 8:55And what you're looking at
in the first serial on the left, -
8:56 - 8:59is that when you start
eating that cheeseburger, -
8:59 - 9:02the pizza, the milkshake,
your blood flow gets sticky. -
9:02 - 9:05And certain elements
like your endothelial cells get sticky, -
9:06 - 9:10your LDL cholesterol gets sticky,
and then the LDL bad cholesterol -
9:10 - 9:12migrates into the sub endothelial space,
-
9:14 - 9:18where it sets up this absolute
cauldron of inflammation. -
9:18 - 9:23And that cauldron of inflammation
begins making inflammatory enzymes -
9:24 - 9:29that gradually begin to thin out
this delicate cap over the plaque. -
9:30 - 9:33It gets thinner and thinner
until it's as thin as a cobweb, -
9:33 - 9:39and then the sheer force of blood going
over that thinned out plaque ruptures, -
9:40 - 9:44and now we have spillage
of plaque content into the flowing blood, -
9:44 - 9:47which activates our platelets,
our clotting factor. -
9:48 - 9:52Now we are at the beginning
of a clot, a thrombosis, -
9:53 - 9:56which is in and of itself,
self-propagating. -
9:56 - 10:00So in a matter of minutes, now we have
an artery that is totally blocked, -
10:00 - 10:06and all the downstream heart muscle
has been deprived of oxygen and nutrients -
10:06 - 10:07and starts to die.
-
10:08 - 10:09That's the heart attack.
-
10:10 - 10:15But there is something absolutely
magically exciting about this series, -
10:15 - 10:19because if I can convince you
that all you have to do -
10:20 - 10:22is change your nutrition,
-
10:23 - 10:25so your internal biochemistry is such
-
10:25 - 10:30that you will not injure or thin out
the cap over your plaque, -
10:30 - 10:33you will actually diminish your plaque,
-
10:33 - 10:36and you will strengthen
the cap over the plaque. -
10:37 - 10:40Alright, how do we do this?
-
10:41 - 10:46It's very easy, we avoid the foods
that injure the endothelium. -
10:47 - 10:48What are they?
-
10:48 - 10:52Even pure virgin olive oil,
corn oil, soybean oil, -
10:52 - 10:57safflower oil, sunflower oil,
coconut oil, palm oil, dairy. -
10:58 - 11:01Anything with a mother
or a face, meat, fish. -
11:01 - 11:02(Laughter)
-
11:06 - 11:12Meat, fish, chicken, and turkey,
and also caffeine in coffee, and fructose. -
11:15 - 11:16Alright what are you going to eat?
-
11:17 - 11:18(Laughter)
-
11:22 - 11:26All those marvellous whole grains
for your cereal, bread and pasta. -
11:26 - 11:29101 different types
of legumes, vegetables, -
11:29 - 11:32which are red, yellow,
and green leafy, and fruit. -
11:33 - 11:37But especially the green leafy vegetables
are like water on the fire. -
11:37 - 11:39What green leafy vegetables?
-
11:39 - 11:42Bok choy, swiss chard, kale, collards,
collard greens, pink greens, -
11:42 - 11:47mustard greens, brussels sprouts,
broccoli, cauliflower, cilantro, -
11:47 - 11:49parsley, spinach, and arugula
and I'm out of breath. -
11:50 - 11:52(Applause)
-
11:56 - 11:58But remember, no oil!
-
11:58 - 12:01(Laughter)
-
12:06 - 12:07Now conventional cardiology,
-
12:07 - 12:10with all those procedures
and all that expense, -
12:10 - 12:14is high mortality, high morbidity,
and sadly it does not cure the disease, -
12:14 - 12:16and the expense is unsustainable.
-
12:16 - 12:20However, when you're treating causality
with plant-based nutrition, -
12:20 - 12:23no mortality with the diet,
no morbidity with the diet. -
12:23 - 12:28And what happens with the passage of time,
the benefits just continue to improve. -
12:28 - 12:32And lastly nobody has greater fear
of another heart attack -
12:32 - 12:35than somebody who's already
had a heart attack. -
12:35 - 12:38And how empowering it can be
for them and their family to know -
12:38 - 12:40that they themselves can now become
-
12:41 - 12:44the locust of control
for this disease, destroying it. -
12:44 - 12:47Whereas in the past,
it had been trying to destroy them. -
12:48 - 12:50And that, lastly,
I want to just share with you, -
12:50 - 12:53this isn't just
that original earlier study. -
12:53 - 12:56But what we're about to publish
another 200 patients. -
12:57 - 13:00And the reason we have
91% compliance -
13:00 - 13:06is because we have a very strong intense
single five hour counselling seminar. -
13:08 - 13:11That's the same amount of time
the cardiac surgeon has, -
13:11 - 13:13but I have the patient when they're awake.
-
13:14 - 13:15(Laughter)
-
13:16 - 13:17So how do we do?
-
13:18 - 13:20If we look at the vertical axis,
-
13:20 - 13:23what you're seeing here is the average
of about three independent -
13:23 - 13:26cohorts cardiology studies
that are quite well known. -
13:27 - 13:29And the recurrent cardiac events,
after four years, -
13:29 - 13:32run about 20% on average.
-
13:32 - 13:34Our own, which is called
"Treating The Cause," -
13:35 - 13:38is a half of one %, that means
roughly a 40 fold difference. -
13:40 - 13:45So in summary,
it is so exciting what happens -
13:46 - 13:49when you treat the causation of disease.
-
13:49 - 13:52Because it is not only prompt,
-
13:52 - 13:55it is powerful, and it is persistent.
-
13:56 - 13:58And for those who, in the future,
-
13:58 - 14:01are coming down
with cardiovascular disease, -
14:01 - 14:05I hope it is going to be unconscionable
not to inform them -
14:06 - 14:12of the power of this option
from which they can thrive. -
14:12 - 14:13Thank you.
-
14:14 - 14:15(Applause)
- Title:
- Making heart attacks history: Caldwell Esselstyn at TEDxCambridge
- Description:
-
Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn argues that heart attacks, the leading cause of death for men and women worldwide, are a "food borne illness" and explains why diet is the most powerful medicine.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 14:24
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for Making heart attacks history: Caldwell Esselstyn at TEDxCambridge 2011 | ||
TED Translators admin approved English subtitles for Making heart attacks history: Caldwell Esselstyn at TEDxCambridge 2011 | ||
Ellen accepted English subtitles for Making heart attacks history: Caldwell Esselstyn at TEDxCambridge 2011 | ||
Ellen edited English subtitles for Making heart attacks history: Caldwell Esselstyn at TEDxCambridge 2011 | ||
Ellen edited English subtitles for Making heart attacks history: Caldwell Esselstyn at TEDxCambridge 2011 | ||
Csaba Lehel edited English subtitles for Making heart attacks history: Caldwell Esselstyn at TEDxCambridge 2011 | ||
Csaba Lehel edited English subtitles for Making heart attacks history: Caldwell Esselstyn at TEDxCambridge 2011 |