A conversation with Valentin Fuster

with Valentin Fuster
in Science & Health
on Monday, February 11, 2008 * * * * *

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A conversation with Dr. Valentin Fuster, Cardiologist and Director of Mount Sinai Medical Heart.

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Keywords:
Peter Libby
Dr. Valentin Fuster
heart disease
cardiologist
heart

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  • Comments 15
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    1. RJ  09/04/2008 01:11 PM Report

      I just had the pleasure of listening to Dr. Fuster just about 1 hour ago at St. Francis Health Center in Topeka, KS. He was one of the best speakers that I have ever heard in my 19 years in the healthcare field. He presented a lot of valid data that just makes sense. For those that believe drugs do more harm than benefits and stick you in a nursing home should put more foil over their windows at home - it's simply not true. Benefits of drug therapy far outweigh the the non-benefits. That's why we have the FDA. That's why, in Europe, that there is more bad drug interaction - becasue there is no regulatory body. I am fully against more government involvement in my life, but in the case of the FDA, I am all for it. Holistic care is not without it's benefits. I believe holistic care is a lot of common sense as well. Holistic care is not without it's dangers as well. Look up IV Bismuth administration in Kansas and you'll see what I mean. For people that believe the cholesterol con, keep believing it as it will lead you to an early grave. Plaque is plaque.

    2. Marta from Barcelona  04/28/2008 07:39 PM Report

      Lee Eliza Owens,

      Sorry to disappoint you, but no parents emigrated to Spain from Nazi Germany or anything like that. Valentin Fuster has a very clear Catalan accent. He, as me, comes from Catalonia, in the north east of Spain. In that area, a part from Spanish, we speak our own language, Catalan. If you want to know about Catalonia, look in Wikipedia. Greetings from Europe.

    3. Max Lent  02/29/2008 10:37 AM Report

      For anyone surprised that heart patients arenâ??t taking their meds, they should talk to the patients directly. Most of the medications that are prescribed for heart disease have serious and mostly intolerable side effects and benefit only drug manufacturers. It is my personal belief that a significant number of elderly people in nursing home and assisted care facilities are there because of the severe mental degradation caused by heart medications. I recently looked up the side effects of the most popular heart meds. All of them listed mental impairment as side effects. One of these meds might be barely tolerable, but when several are prescribed the results can be devastating. Patients lose the ability to think. Some have reported not being able to form words. They lose their will to do normal tasks. Some become barely conscious. Yet, many of these patients still drive cars and live alone. Prescribing these drugs without 24hr monitoring is negligent.

      I suggest that readers of this forum read The Cholesterol Con -- Where Were the Doctors? By Maggie Mahar, Health Beat. Posted February 29, 2008. http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/77916/

      It is not as if patients willfully do not want to take their meds or that they are lax in their own care. Many of them are opting out of taking meds that make them sick.

    4. karen aranas  02/21/2008 02:43 PM Report

      Doctor Fuster's comments, not only about statistics but also asking why people don't want to take care of themselves, has resonated with me since I heard his words. I am well-acquainted with the health risks of obesity, high cholesterol etc. However, the sadness that he demonstrated when he said that the question he most wanted answered was why people don't want to take care of themselves had more effect on me than all the statistics and dollars spent on cardiac disease.

      I'm going for a walk!

    5. liam kiaraa  02/12/2008 08:35 PM Report

      Charlie,although I do not have any of the six conditions that Dr. Furst mentiones that put people in the high risk catagory for heart attach and or stroke, I do have hyper- homosistenia which puts me in an even greater risk of having a heart attact and stroke. Does my having hyper-homosistenia alone, make me eligible to be included in any of Dr. Fuster's studies.

      If not, does Dr. Furst know of any studies that I would be elegible for?

    6. Diane K  02/12/2008 08:20 PM Report

      Dean Ornish, MD demonstrated in his two studies and in his heart disease program that coronary artery disease is REVERSIBLE without surgery or medication. How many people are aware of this fact? Think of the enormous savings in death, disability, and money not to mention quality of life!

      What is needed is a new perspecitive in health care, a holistic perspective. Some of the the aspects of holistic care (diet, exercise, stress reduction) are being assimilated into western medicine because they have been found to benefit the patient. There will always be a problem with medication compliance due to cost, the side effects, and the intuitive bias against the unnaturalness of medication.

      Holistically, the individual is reminded that they are responsible for their own health and that simple things they can do can reverse not just heart disease but probably any disease, as well as the effects of aging. In holistic health, all aspects are interrelated: food, movement/exercise, thought/emotion, relationship, expression/creativity/work, purpose/spirituality. The concepts are uniqueness and unity, balance and flow. Concepts of new physics/quantum physics supercede biology and chemistry. Our genes express when affected by our environment, which includes our thoughts.

      Rather than dividing our health into diseases such are diabetes, heart disease, etc these symptoms illustrate that our lives are out of balance and bringing more balance into our lives will reverse all kinds of symptoms.

      What is needed is education, education about a holisic approach to health where the individual can bring more healing, peace, happiness and joy into their lives by the choices they make. When people are aware of what is possible and that they have the power to dramatically change thieir lives, and when they experience a change, it will motivate them to re-create their lives and health.

    7. Carla Herwitz  02/12/2008 07:26 PM Report

      I have described Dr. Fuster's incredibly inacurrate and insulting remarks to FAIR so that they will get people who don't agree with his ridiculous statement about why hospitals are so expensive can write to the Charlie Rose Show, PBS, Dr. Fuster, etc. I hope that they look at it and take it on.

    8. Melanie Holzner  02/12/2008 06:47 PM Report

      Excuses excuses. There are MANY opportunities to incorporate healthy behaviors and lifestyle choices w/o setting aside hours for the gym or nutritionists. For example, park far from work so you have to walk more, take the stairs not the elevator, have an apple for a snack not chips, drink water instead of soda, etc. Walk the dog around the block, take your kids to the park, learn a new sport, etc. It doesn't cost more to make small changes, it could cost your life if you don't.

    9. Carol J  02/12/2008 02:30 PM Report

      The interviews with Dr. Fuster the one with Dr. Carpentier were more informative, than your science series on heart disease. Also I come from middle America and I agree with Diane, who has the time to take a walk when you work, work and work (these works include all your chores and time that should be spent with family and friends). I did not feel like walking until after I retired 18 months ago. I took an early retirement and now my former employer who is 58 decided he wanted out and is taking early retirement.

    10. farid  02/12/2008 01:07 PM Report

      that was great, i enjoyed it very much.

    11. farid  02/12/2008 01:07 PM Report

      that was great, i enjoyed it very much.

    12. farid  02/12/2008 01:07 PM Report

      that was great, i enjoyed it very much.

    13. lee eliza owens  02/12/2008 12:58 PM Report

      We enjoyed your conversation with Valentin Fuster, but we were distracted by trying to figure out his enigmatic accent. We were guessing South African, no Swiss, no ... etc, etc. Researching on the internet today, we discovered he was born in Spain, but that did not sound like a Spanish accent to us! We might get a heart attack if we spend too much more time on this! Wow, what a guy. He is doing so many marvelous things filling up the internet, there is no space for early biography or story of his family, but we are imagining there must be an interesting history there? Parents emigrated to Spain during Nazi times? Or....? We will get a heart attack if we spend too much more time speculating ...

    14. Dianna Holmes  02/12/2008 02:31 AM Report

      Charlie,

      I just saw the segment on heart disease on this evening's show ( Feb 11 2008 ).

      I never understand why the facts of trying to manage real life is not mentioned in controlling heart disease. When people ( especially over 45) work 10-12 hour days(or evenings or nights) 4-5 times a week,don't get any kind of reasonable break time at work ( 20 or 30 min to take a walk) and add the chronic problem of insomnia,at least to some degree,the obvious problem of life stress,add the fact that people are too tired to shop and cook good food at the end of such a long day let alone exercise or the other option of attempting to get up between 4:30 or 5:00 to try and exercise in the am...not to mention when do you spend time with the family,when do you do the extra work that must be done for your job ,at home, and of course daily chores...how is that manageable? It seems to me that any reasonable dialogue of changing lifestyle in the middle aged adult needs to also be focused on employers as well..perhaps average,middle class working folks need some kind of schedule that actually allows them to consistantly develop and maintain health habits to prevent disease without sacrificing sleep,family,and job requirements?? The economy is always talking about increasing worker productivity but at what expense??

    15. Mike Lewman  02/11/2008 11:33 PM Report

      What happened to Sunday on Friday?