No More Heart Disease Paperback – January 23, 2002

Dr Louis Ignarro, famously, shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine with 2 colleagues for his work on the key role of NO (Nitric Oxide) in the workings of the human cardiovascular system.Famously, he has also made a lot of money from his discovery by promoting products which claim to boost NO levels, and by writing books aimed at lay readers, explaining his work.He has been criticized quite heavily for this commercial approach, especially by fellow scientists.That would be irrelevant if Dr Ignarro's theories, and the supplements he recommends, worked in practice.The evidence is that they do work, and that is what makes this book valuable.The central pillar of Ignarro's prescription is to take two supplements daily, L-arginine and L-citrulline (the widespread availability of these supplements nowadays is testimony to the impression his original research made on the public mind).However, he accompanies this with a wealth of good advice -- to eat sensibly, take exercise and avoid stress -- which no critic can possibly find fault with.It is also his contention that the daily doses of L-arginine and L-citrulline commonly advised by manufacturers fall woefully short of the therapeutic dose. He recommends a daily L-arginine intake of at least 4g daily, and up to 6g. You would need to take a dozen or more pills to get that dose, using the commonly-sold preparations.Which leads us to the commercial powder preparation which Ignarro endorses (and has shares in). A scoop a day will give you the dose that he recommends.I'm not a doctor, and cannot comment on any of the medical issues, or make recommendations about the product.But I am a book reviewer, and I do recommend this book to anyone interested in their cardiac health. Even if you never buy a single supplement, there is enough wisdom and medical good sense in the book to make it well worth your while -- and it may just save your life.

This book is very informative and easy to understand. I am going to improve my health with the knowledge that I got from this book.

I think this is a great book and would recommend it without hesitation. Nitric Oxide is a really interesting subject and this book helps to explain it really well. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars is because Dr Ignarro understanding of cholesterol is rather traditional, and maybe he should familiarise himself with the research undertaken by Dr Uffe Ravnskov [...] The French for example eat lots of cholesterol and saturated fats, and their heart attack rates are very low by comparison to the USA. However I accept that Dr Ignarro is not trained in cholesterol and so don't want to be unkind. Putting cholesterol aside, this is a really great book and worth your time and money. It does come across as a bit `salesy' which is not what you would expect from someone who has won a Nobel Prize, and this may be off-putting to some readers who take offence if something is too commercial. I suspect some marketing or PR person got involved somewhere along the way with this book and felt it needed hyping up. But it's an easy read, and you won't fall asleep, which is more than I can say for some books. Nitric Oxide is an important discovery, and Ignarro and his colleagues deserve lots of praise for bringing it to our attention.

After reading some of the reviews here, I decided to include my own personal experience with using the supplements suggested in Dr. Ignarro's book "NO More Heart Disease".I will start from the beginning: about 5 years ago, I was informed by my doctor that my total cholesterol reading was 365, but my blood pressure was not too high 130/82. I also came to find out that heart disease is hereditary in my family. The first thing my doctor wanted to do was put me on a cholesterol lowering medication - a statin. Initally I agreed and began taking it. Within two weeks, I felt a huge difference in my overall health. - I felt weak, tired,and my joints felt stiff. I was 39 at the time but I felt like I aged 20 years in those two weeks. I began doing some research and found out the truth about statins and it compelled me to stop taking them immediately. Not too suprisingly, I began to feel better within a few days and after about a week, I was back to feeling normal again; no aches and pains that I was feeling while taking the meds. I decided that I would try to fix my problem the natural way by modifying my diet, adding in some supplements that are said to help lower cholesterol, and increase my activity level. I felt I was fairly active already - weight training 3 - 4 days a week at that time and I ate pretty healthy to begin with, but obviously something was missing. The next year, I had my blood work done again and I thought for sure I was going to be in the clear, but I only managed to get my cholesterol down to 288. My doctor again strongly urged me to take a statin to lower my cholesterol and I still refused. I was truly frustrated because I was already taking supplements - red yeast rice, garlic, L-argnine, niacin, and a multi vitamin and still my cholesterol was this high. I absolutely did not want to take any cholesterol lowering meds; but at the same time, I was becoming worried about having a stroke or a heart attack, so I knew I had to do something soon.About a year ago, I came across an advertisement for Dr. Ignarro and I found his website. Long story short, I bought his book and applied the supplementation as he advised. After a few months,I had my blood work done and my total cholesterol was 200 and blood pressure was 114/78. I know those are not perfect numbers, but it is huge for me and I am confident that these changes are the result of following the advice/recommendations in his book. I still need to get my numbers a little lower, but I am so relieved that I did not give in and take the easy way out by going on the meds as my doctor suggested. All in all, I give this book 5 stars, because the supplementation is easy and it absoulutely worked for me.