Free Guides and Handbooks (Members Only)

  Cholesterol and Lipoproteins

  Heart Scanning

  Nutritional Supplements

  Diet, Execise, and Lifestyle

  Medical Research and Studies

  Miscellaneous Heart Health

  Audio Special Reports (narrated by Dr. William Davis)

  Book Reviews

  Success Stories

  Newsletter Archive

  Online Webinar Archive

  Online Chat Transcripts

Cholesterol and Lipoproteins

Lipoprotein Discussion An introduction to lipoproteins, how they are measured, and how the they help detect the hidden causes of coronary plaque.

HDL Cholesterol: Why It Is So Important Low HDL Cholesterol is the most common factor among heart attack sufferers.

Triglycerides: Mother of Meddlesome Particles Triglycerides are a crucial risk factor for coronary plaque growth, even at levels previously thought to be normal. Dr. Davis discusses why and how this oft-neglected factor can be harnessed to strengthen your program.

HDL Therapy Makes National Health Headlines Everyone talks about LDL cholesterol—it’s on TV commercials, drug companies make billions from treating it. But there’s tremendous plaque-fighting power in HDL!

Lipoprotein(a): What it is, why it's important, and why you need to know if you've got it! A missing piece in many people’s heart disease prevention program is lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a). If you have it, it can pose special risk for heart disease. The treatment effort is specific. Eating better, exercising, and taking a cholesterol drug just won’t cut it!

A Nutritional Approach to Triglycerides: An Interview with Track Your Plaque Expert Nutritionist Gay Riley Triglycerides are an ingredient that your body can use to make a number of unwanted lipoprotein particles. Fortunately, triglycerides are among the most susceptible fats to dietary manipulation. In this Special Report, we interview Track Your Plaque expert in nutrition, Gay Riley, MS,RD, CCN on her unique approach to her patients with high triglycerides.

Small LDL Particles: Bullies looking for trouble. An Interview with Lipidologist, Dr. Tara Dall Small LDL is the #1 most common lipid/lipoprotein abnormality causing coronary plaque. It’s also among the most ignored. Track Your Plaque interviews lipid expert, Dr. Tara Dall, for an in-depth discussion about this important problem.

Homocysteine: An Update Study after study has confirmed that, the higher your homocysteine blood level, the greater your risk for heart attack and stroke.  But two recent studies have been recently released that cast serious doubt on whether reducing homocysteine using B vitamins has any beneficial effect on heart disease. What now?

Men: You can use testosterone to treat lipoprotein disorders Testosterone is gaining wide acceptance for restoration of youthful vigor, increasing muscle mass, and improvement of well being. But testosterone also offers some unique opportunities for correction of specific lipoprotein disorders. Here’s what you need to know.

Unique nutritional strategies to reduce cholesterol naturally Tired of the media onslaught promoting statin drugs? What happened to a conversation about nutritional strategies that reduce cholesterol?

Let Dr. Friedewald rest in peace Peter had been told that his LDL cholesterol was good, ranging from 90–120 mg/dl on several panels over the years. So it was a surprise when his heart scan score proved high at 423. A more intensive look through lipoprotein analysis (NMR) revealed that his true, measured LDL cholesterol was 203 mg/dl—far higher.

Lipoprotein Checklist: Lipoprotein(a) Lipoprotein (a), or Lp (a) (read “L–P little a”) is a powerful and underappreciated cause of heart disease. Up to 20% of people with heart disease will have increased Lp(a). It can trigger heart attacks early in life, as early as 40s or 50s. Lp (a) also magnifies dangers of other abnormalities.

Lipoprotein Checklist: Small LDL Just like people, LDL particles vary in size and structure. The size of the LDL particle makes a crucial difference in whether or not it contributes to coronary plaque.

C-Reactive Protein: The Track Your Plaque Perspective C-reactive protein (CRP) is another blood test that many hope will improve the power to predict whether heart attack is in your future. We have to think of heart disease as an inflammatory disease, just as we think of rheumatoid arthritis as an inflammatory disease.

Phospholipase A2: Emerging marker of heart attack risk . . . or drug company scam? In an effort to better understand why some people continue to have heart attacks despite favorable cholesterol values, the world of phospholipids is being explored as a source of risk. Drug companies have pursued it as a marker to justify intensified need for statin drugs. Are phospholipids the miracle marker some claim, or is it just a ploy for expanding the statin market for drug manufacturers?

Lipoprotein Checklist: Intermediate-density lipoproteins (IDL) A normal amount of IDL is none—none whatsoever should be detected in fasting blood. If present, IDL triggers atherosclerotic plaque growth.

Lipoprotein Checklist: Low HDL The lower the HDL, the greater the risk for coronary plaque; the higher the level, the lower the risk. The same holds true for large HDL. Low HDL, along with small LDL, is the number one cause for heart disease and heart attack in the U.S.

Lipoprotein Checklist: Triglycerides High triglycerides are a common cause of heart disease, even in people with low or normal cholesterol values. It is crucial that you (and your doctor) pay close attention to triglycerides if you are to succeed in controlling your plaque.

Lipoprotein Checklist: Very-density lipoproteins (VLDL) VLDL adds to coronary plaque growth. Along with intermediate-density lipoprotein (IDL), VLDL can reflect the persistence of digestive particles after a meal, called a “postprandial” (after-eating) disorder.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Lipoprotein Analysis: An Advanced User’s Guide Lipoprotein testing is one of the cornerstones of the Track Your Plaque program, one of the reasons that we enjoy such enormous success in dropping so many people’s heart scan scores.

HDL, Higher is better: The TNT Trial The latest analysis of the data from Treat to New Targets (TNT) Trial shows that higher HDL cholesterol values are associated with reduced risk of heart attack, even in those with low LDL cholesterol values.

Unique Strategies for Lipoprotein(a) Reduction Lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a), can be among the most frustrating causes of coronary atherosclerotic plaque. Sometimes treatment of this genetic pattern can be simple and straightforward. Other times it can test even the most patient and persistent. Lp(a) is by no means a rare pattern. Of people with a heart scan score above zero, 1 in 5 will have it.

Postprandial Lipoproteins: The storm after the quiet! (Part 1 - Fats) Postprandial, or after-eating, responses represent an exciting new territory for heart disease prevention. Clinical studies suggest that postprandial responses play a major role in causing coronary plaque. We begin our exploration of this somewhat complex world with the metabolic handling of fats after eating.

Postprandial Lipoproteins: Part 2 - The triglyceride tolerance test You test your blood sugar to assess the effects of a meal. So why not test triglycerides as yet another feedback tool? Here's a step-by-step guide to triglyceride tolerance testing, a way of gauging your per-meal fat tolerance.

Heart Scanning

10 Things to Do If Your Heart Scan Score Increases More Than 10% Per Year: A 2008 Update How to fine tune your heart prevention and reversal program if your year to year calcium score increases faster than the Track Your Plaque recommended rate.  The 2008 Update.

Heart Scans Make Cover of Time Magazine An in depth review of heart scanning cover story Time Magazine. Learn what they got right and, more importantly, what the missed!

What’s all the hype behind 64-slice scanners? 64-slice CT scanners featured on Oprah! Just what does this mean? Do these new devices provide any advantages in your heart disease prevention program?

What Should Matt Do Now? Today Show host Matt Lauer underwent a heart scan on one of the 64-slice devices. The scan showed coronary plaque. What should he do now?

Oprah does it again! CT heart scans featured on Oprah.  Did she help or hurt the cause? The Oprah Winfrey Show once again featured CT heart scans. The audience was wowed with fabulous views of coronary arteries generated on CT heart scan devices. Four audience members chosen at random had scans, two of whom had unsuspected heart disease detected.

What if your heart scan score is ZERO? Tremendous confusion persists about the implications about a heart scan score of zero. A zero score is great! In fact, it’s the best result obtainable. But does it allow you to do anything you want, free of danger for the rest of your life.

American Heart Association acknowledges the power of Heart Scans to predict heart attacks! After years of political battling and resistance to CT scanning for coronary calcium scoring, the American Heart Association (AHA) has finally released a formal position paper acknowledging the ability of heart scans to predict heart attacks.

Nutritional Supplements

L-Arginine: An essential amino acid to shrink coronary plaque An in-depth look at the king of plaque fighting supplements and why it is among the most powerful tools for your plaque-control program.

Your Water May Be Killing You Magnesium is an important trace mineral for heart rhythm and health. Drinking water was once a major source. Now, it is often being removed from tap and bottled water. Learn what you can do about it.

Flavonoids and L-Arginine: A Potent Combination for Arterial Health Flavonoids from food lower blood pressure, are anti-oxidants, relax arteries, and even protect from inflammation and cancer. Combine them with l-arginine and you’ve got an especially powerful synergistic combination for your plaque control program.  Learn how to use these crucial nutrients for your program.

Who's Afraid of Fish Oil? Fish oil is a crucial component of your plaque prevention program. But all too frequently people take too little, a capsule or two. Why be afraid of fish oil?

Vitamin D and coronary plaque: Is there a connection? Vitamin D may be the most underappreciated nutrient around. New research suggests that vitamin D deficiency is far more common than previously thought and contributes to high blood pressure, cancer, metabolic syndrome and other disease processes. Here’s how to make sure vitamin D is put to advantage in your program.

Myth Busters: Nutritional Supplements With Overblown Claims The health and supplement world is full of great agents full of promise. But it’s also tainted by the overblown claims of over-enthusiastic retailers. Don’t waste your time and health on the false promises of these “treatments”.

An interview with Dr. John Cannell: The Importance of Vitamin D Vitamin D, previously regarded (ignored) as only a risk for childhood rickets, is now being increasingly recognized as a crucial modulator of numerous body processes. Low vitamin D levels are epidemic and a major contributor to hypertension, diabetes, cancer  and heart disease.

Is l-arginine dangerous after heart attack? Recent headlines declare that l-arginine is dangerous for your heart if taken after a heart attack. Is this true? Should you stop your l-arginine?.

Niacin: Ins and outs, ups and downs Niacin—vitamin B3—corrects multiple lipoprotein patterns. Used properly, niacin is a safe, effective treatment that results in dramatic reduction in heart disease risk. Used improperly, it can be full of unwanted adverse effects, most annoying, some dangerous. Here’s a roadmap to negotiate the ins and outs, ups and downs of niacin.

CoEnzyme Q10: The nutritional supplement that may make or break your program It’s an imperfect solution, but supplemental coenzyme Q10 allows many people to take a statin cholesterol-reducing drug while sparing them from the inevitable muscle aches.

Magnesium: Water to the rescue! Magnesium can help turn-off pre-diabetic patterns like low HDL and small LDL, reduce blood pressure, and prevent heart rhythm disorders. But getting adequate magnesium from water and food is getting increasingly difficult. The average American is significantly deficient. Here’s a Track Your Plaque guide to using water to increase your magnesium intake.

Policosanol—Finally put to rest Consistent with the Track Your Plaque experience, policosanol has now been shown in an independent study to have no LDL cholesterol-reducing effects. Take it off your list of supplements.

Fat-phobia gone haywire Omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil are genuinely and spectacularly beneficial for you. Yet Dr. Dean Ornish, of 1980s-era low-fat fame, continues to issue warnings of any fat’s dangers.  Don’t believe it..

DHEA: What role in your program? The arguments for and against DHEA replacement have zig-zagged from fountain of youth to dangerous. Here, we cut through the hype and hone in on the issues important to your plaque-control program. it.

Vitamin K2: An emerging story Along with vitamin D, recent studies put vitamin K2 in the spotlight as a major factor in calcium control in the body. Long considered a passive accompaniment of atherosclerotic plaque growth, calcium deposition in coronary arteries, evidenced by your CT heart scan score, is increasingly looking more like an active component that may be under your control.

Phosphatidylcholine: Can it raise HDL? Prompted by interest on the Member Forum, here is a discussion of the potential merits of this supplement as a means of raising HDL cholesterol, possibly shifting its subclass distribution, as well as other lipid effects.

Vitamin K2: An Update Another study has been released that confirms a connection between intake of vitamin K2 and coronary disease. This study takes the discussion one step further by using coronary calcium scoring obtained with heart scans, an experience that we had lacked previously.

Does iodine deficiency contribute to plaque growth? Thyroid status is proving to be a crucial facet of the Track Your Plaque program. We review iodine’s neglected role in thyroid health, and thereby heart health. This is supplemented by an interview with epidemiologist, trace mineral and iodine expert, Dr. Stephen Hoption Cann.

Track Your Plaque Basic Guide to Vitamin D Vitamin D has proven to be among the most powerful of supplements to include in a plaque-control program. Vitamin D should be considered by everyone starting on the Track Your Plaque program.

Calcium Supplements: Healthy bones . . . Sick heart? While conventional health information encourages calcium supplementation for bone health, emerging data suggest that calcium may also increase cardiovascular risk. Are we forced to make a choice: bone health vs. heart health?

Diet. Exercise, and Lifetstyle

5 Common Health Food Mistakes Don’t let these common foods booby-trap your program! Choose the wrong foods and you may find yourself overweight, struggling to correct the causes of your plaque, even amplify a diabetic tendency. Though commonly on lists of “healthy” foods, these 5 foods can foul up an otherwise perfect program.

25 Ways to Get 25 Grams of Soy Protein 25 grams of soy protein per day drops LDL cholesterol 10–20 points and can be an important ingredient in controlling coronary plaque and minimizing your need for prescription medication. Just remember the magic number: 25 grams. Here are 25 ways to tally up those 25 grams every day.

Get Fat on a Low-Fat Diet Want to get fat? Go on a low-fat diet. These diets are simply the wrong approach for most of us, wreaking havoc on our metabolism and leading us further down the path of metabolic syndrome.

Use your pedometer to supercharge your weight loss program! Track Your Plaque Personal Training expert Kelli Calabrese shares her wisdom on how to use a simple pedometer to lose weight, get fit--all to power-up your plaque control program. .

The Paleo Diet: An Interview with Dr. Loren Cordain Track Your Plaque interviews Dr. Loren Cordain about his fascinating research into the diet of early man and how his findings have altered modern thinking about the most heart health approach to eating.

I Only Eat Once a Day!  Why Can't I Lose Weight? How can you eat only one meal out of three, deprive yourself of calories for much of the day, yet continue to gain weight? Well, contrary to common sense and popular perceptions, missing meals can be a sure-fire way to gain weight. And are you really eating only one meal a day?

Foods that help you lose weight What if you could choose foods that help you lose weight? Here’s a list of just that—foods that you can include every day to enhance your weight-loss success.

Boost your heart and mind: The fascinating link between depression and heart disease Heart disease and depression often go hand-in-hand. This suggests that treatment strategies may also attack both illnesses. Read primer on health strategies that may help navigate the complex interplay of these painfully common problems.

Females, hormones, and weight control: An interview with Dr. Nisha Jackson As early as their late 30s, women begin to experience the physical changes of peri-menopause and menopause. Along with the emotional roller-coaster ride and hot-flashes, most women gain a substantial quantity of weight. This has implications for your plaque-control program.

Use Fiber to Accelerate Weight Loss Choose one fiber and it will make your bowels regular. Choose another fiber and you reduce LDL cholesterol, blood sugar, increase satiety—and lose weight.  Know how to choose the right fibers to reach your goals.

Drinking green tea associated with less heart attack Green tea is in the headlines again. Over the past few years, green tea has been in the spotlight for its purported weight loss, cholesterol-reducing, and anti-oxidant benefits. Add to this green tea’s possible reduction of heart attack risk.

One for the road: Alcohol and coronary plaque As you enjoy your glass of Bordeaux, are you adding or subtracting from the mix of factors that contribute to coronary plaque? Are alcoholic beverages a blessing or a curse for your heart disease prevention program?

Fasting: Fast Track to Control Plaque If you’re anxious to obtain faster control over your heart scan score and its causes, then fasting is worth considering. Fasting is the quickest, most effective method “jump-start” a lifestyle that has suffered neglect and regain control over health.

The Cuisine of Well-being: Healthful recipes from Chef Michel Nischan Chef Nischan has generously provided us with a bounty of wonderful recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He’s chosen 11 dishes that range from extremely simple (Lightly salted edamame), to moderately detailed (Pan-toasted garlic and wilted spinach soup).  None are difficult. All are delicious!

Optimism, pessimism, and coronary plaque What role do emotions play in heart disease? Will they impact on your success or failure in controlling coronary plaque and reducing your heart scan score? Or is it all just fluff, the preaching of psychologists caught up in the mumbo-jumbo of feelings and emotions?

Ten ways to use oat bran I’m always surprised how few people have heard of oat bran or know about its wonderful health properties. While by itself oat bran is not fancy, glamorous, or delicious, when used properly it can be part of delicious and healthy dishes in your nutrition program.

Nuts: Functional food, weight, and cholesterol-control tool Fiber, healthy monounsaturated oils, and protein are just some of the healthy ingredients in nuts that make them an important part of a plaque-control nutrition program. Here’s the Track Your Plaque Special Report that helps you put them to maximum use.

The NEW Track Your Plaque Diet: Part 1 How is it that, as a nation, we’ve dissected our diet, sliced it and diced it into its component saturated and polyunsaturated fats, complex and simple carbohydrates, analyzed it down to its flavonoids, polyphenols, and micronutrients, yet still emerge overweight, diabetic, and generally unhappy?

The NEW Track Your Plaque Diet: Part 2 The second installment of this 3-Part series, Part 2 explores Achieving Metabolic Health. Packed with quick summaries as well as in depth explanations, Dr. Davis presents the New 6-Step Track Your Plaque Diet Plan.

The NEW Track Your Plaque Diet: Part 3 The third installment of this 3-Part series, Part 3 examines how diet can address special heart health challenges. For example, Lipoprotein(a) and diabetes are among the of special circumstances addressed in Part 3.

Sleep and the Track Your Plaque program: Does sleep quantity or quality cause plaque to grow? The data are clear: Sacrifice sleep, sacrifice health. The health consequences of sleep deprivation are far-reaching. Recent data have also connected insufficient sleep with greater likelihood of increased heart scan scores and heart attack. This puts the issue square in our sights.

Fructose: Dangerous at any level? Lurking in your food is an ingredient that can wreak more havoc than ever thought previously. It’s not saturated fat, it’s not ice cream, it’s not salt. It’s fructose - a sugar found in many foods, both naturally and added by food manufacturers. It is a unique sugar with distinct physiologic properties that set it apart from other sugars.

Anthocyanins: Eat Purple! The color purple marks a plant’s production of anthocyanins, a unique class of polyphenols that provide powerful health effects. Selecting foods rich in this color is an easy strategy to boost your intake of healthy anthocyanins.

Postprandial Responses: Part 3 - Carbohydrates and postprandial blood sugar While fats determine postprandial triglycerides, carbohydrates determine postprandial blood sugar. Higher postprandial blood sugars, more than fasting blood sugars, are associated with up to several-fold increased risk for cardiovascular events. Managing carbohydrate intake is therefore a crucial aspect of your Track Your Plaque program.

Interesterification: The next 'Frankenfat' replacing trans fats? Cardiac nutritionist Margaret Pfeifer joins the Track Your Plaque team to help us craft advice for our unique brand of heart healthy nutrition. Margaret’s specialty is creating interesting recipes that incorporate TYP principles while exposing misinformation that often passes as 'heart healthy.'

Medical Research and Studies

High-dose Lipitor® fails to stop increase in heart scan score Drug manufacturers would have us believe that statin agents for cholesterol reduction regress plaque all by themselves. In our experience, it’s simply not true. A new study confirms that statins alone won’t do it.

New study confirms: LDL of 60mg reverses plaque The Track Your Plaque program has, from the start, advocated an LDL cholesterol of 60 mg or less to achieve plaque regression (heart scan score reduction).  A major trial has now confirmed this approach. What can we learn from this new experience?.

Torcetrapib goes bust: Experimental HDL drug unsafe Drug manufacturing giant, Pfizer, announced that, because of 60% more deaths seen in the initial human trials, torcetrapib will be withdrawn from clinical trials.  It’s not presently clear if the HDL-raising agent will ever make it out of the experimental setting.

Miscellaneous Heart Health

Why I Never Should Have Had a Heart Attack Given my calcium scores and the rate of increase in those scores, I was at high risk of having a heart attack. And that is exactly what happened! Former Stanford University Medical Center executive tells why his heart attack shouldn’t have happened.

Shutting Off Metabolic Syndrome Metabolic syndrome is by far the most common reason that people fail to gain control over coronary plaque. Let Track Your Plaque's cutting-edge cardiologists show how to beat this scourge.

Don't Let Your Doctor's Ignorance Kill You There is a well-known proverb that says "old habits die hard."  But YOU don't have to.  The fact is, the pace of non-invasive heart scanning, lipoprotein testing, and drug development is so rapid that the majority of physicians cannot keep up with it.  Frankly, many others simply do not care to learn about heart disease prevention, especially those for whom heart disease repair is a profit center.

Major Malpractice Class Action Lawsuit Looms for Doctors Who Ignore Heart Scans Your Heart Health Consumer Advocate provides a chilling example what could happen if doctors continue to ignore heart scan results.  Contact Track Your Plaque if your story sounds similar.

Extinguishing Inflammation: A Practical Guide, Part 1 of a 2-Part Series, Part 1: Why inflammation is important in health Inflammation spurs plaque growth, cancer, arthritis, and diabetes. Up to 70% of people have unsuspected, asymptomatic inflammation smoldering within. Turning off inflammation can be an important part of your program.

Extinguishing Inflammation: A Practical Guide, Part 2 of a 2-Part Series, Part 2: How to shut down inflammation Inflammation drives coronary plaque growth. It’s also the trigger for plaque rupture that results in heart attack. Inflammation is like a fire—one that you can put out.

ApoA-1 Milano: Hope for a Cure or Hype for Profit? Coronary plaque regression in just weeks? The initial clinical trial indeed suggested that this was achievable. And it wasn’t just another glowing report on a cholesterol drug, but an entirely new class: a recombinant mimic of a naturally-occurring mutant HDL protein.

My heart scan score was 1335. My doctor told me: “Go straight to the hospital!" A new heart scanner comes to town, you get a scan that discloses a high score, and Bam!! you’re on your way to the hospital. In many or most cases, this is flat out wrong. .

Are your health information sources drug free?  How drug company money biases reporting. Just like a pack of cigarettes, most healthcare reporting should carry a disclaimer: Warning: Report may be biased by drug company advertising support! .

Nurse Carol’s Frequently Asked Questions on Niacin. I took niacin to raise my HDL but had a nasty allergic reaction. My skin turned bright red all over! So I stopped the stuff. What do I do now? The last time I had my cholesterol checked, my doctor said that it was perfect. So I stopped my cholesterol medication. Isn’t that great?!

The women and heart disease controversy: What’s the real story? Heart disease is traditionally viewed as a man’s disease. As a result, women have been neglected in research and often misdiagnosed when symptoms develop. Media reports highlight how heart attack symptoms are different in women. The message: Don’t dismiss unusual symptoms in females.

Former Enron CEO Dies of Sudden Heart Attack Like him or not, former Enron CEO Ken Lay has become the latest high profile personality to become a victim of “hidden heart disease.”   An autopsy performed after his sudden and fatal heart attack at age 64 revealed severe coronary artery disease and evidence of a previous, perhaps “silent”, heart attack.

SHAPE Guidelines bring CT heart scans to forefront The Screening for Heart Attack Prevention and Education (SHAPE) Task Force released guidelines for heart disease detection in the American public. Why is that news? Aren’t there already guidelines in place for heart disease detection? Shockingly, there are not. There are guidelines for heart disease risk factor assessment, but no set of guidelines that incorporate measures of atherosclerosis itself—a crucial distinction.

When what you eat sticks around: Postprandial lipid disorders and their impact on your plaque-control program Like annoying visitors to your home who don’t know when to leave, there are a set of cholesterol-related abnormalities called “postprandial disorders”, the abnormal persistence of fatty digestive by-products that stick around for up to 24 hours after eating. They are among the most potent causes of heart disease, stroke, and aneurysm known. Here’s the Track Your Plaque guide to what you need to know.

Breaking News: Wearing socks skyrockets heart attack risk! A Report on the Coffee Scare News was released today that wearing socks significantly escalates risk of heart attack. Fiction, of course. But that’s about what the media carried recently: a hyped-up, overblown and generally non-sensical report of how caffeine intake among non- or rare-users increased risk of heart attack.

Warning: Normal blood pressure may be high blood pressure! Widely misunderstood, underestimated, under-treated, and ignored, blood pressure is a prime instigator of coronary plaque growth. Although most people regard blood pressure issues as dull and not worthy of fuss, control of this incredibly important facet of health is a basic requirement for atherosclerotic plaque control and putting a halt to an increasing heart scan score.

Can heart disease be reversed? We’re on the dawn of a new age in which reversal of heart disease is rapidly becoming a reality for more and more people. What exactly happens when coronary heart disease is reversed? What does it look like and how do you know when you’ve achieved it? Is there a scientific rationale behind the Track Your Plaque approach? Here’s our Special Report on everything you wanted to know about heart disease reversal.

Progesterone? What’s it got to do with me? Track Your Plaque Nurse Carol learns about the benefits of progesterone from her own personal experience.

Double the horsepower of your statin drug Good or bad, the statins have assumed a prominent role in many people’s heart disease prevention program. If you’ve committed to having a statin drug in your program, here are ideas for magnifying the benefits.

New Research, FDA Advisory Focus on Stent Risks Although metal stents are an effective short-term plumbing fix for a plugged coronary artery, they have their own long-term problems once implanted. Stent restenosis (narrowing of the stented artery) has been a constant problem. Special "drug-eluting" stents may exaggerate the problem of thrombosis (blood clots), and new research reveals that these stents inhibit the body's natural ability to generate collateral paths for blood flow.

Tip the scales towards plaque reversal There’s no one easy formula to achieve coronary plaque reversal: no single pill, supplement, food that guarantees that you drop your heart scan score. But there are indeed factors which can work in favor or against the likelihood that you gain control over your coronary plaque.

Are stress tests a waste of time? If you already know that you have coronary plaque, what purpose does a stress test play? Does it provide any advantage, any additional information to you and your doctor? Or are stress tests a complete waste of time, just another test to generate revenues for your doctor and hospital?

Matrix Metalloproteinase: Key to heart attacks? Matrix metalloproteinase, MMP, is an enzyme that may hold the key to heart attack. Block matrix metalloproteinase and it might dramatically reduce the likelihood of heart attack in your lifetime?

Headaches over aspirin? Good old-fashioned aspirin has been the subject of thousands of studies, yet controversy still abounds on its benefits, dangers, and issues like aspirin resistance. Can we cut through the clutter and extract the information we need for our plaque-control interests?

Erectile dysfunction and coronary plaque: Is there a connection? Men who experience erectile dysfunction (ED) commonly also have heart disease, and vice versa. If you have one, you’re likely to have the other. Here’s a few things you can do about it.

Can estrogen reduce CT heart scan scores? A new analysis from the Women’s Health Initiative study has provided persuasive evidence that estrogens help control CT heart scan scores. How does that fit into rational heart disease prevention and the Track Your Plaque program?

The Bankrupting of American Healthcare: $20 Billion, Many Lives Lost Each Year Cost Analysis Details Startling Waste, Perverse Heart Health Practices Enrich the Few and Condemn the Many

Calcium: The Good, the bad, and the ugly Your heart scan score measures calcium. The less you have, the better. But that’s not true everywhere in the body. In bones, less calcium signals  osteoporosis.  Calcium in blood and other tissues remains tightly regulated. Why this calcium disconnect in different places? Does taking calcium have any effect? New research provides surprising answers.

The Injured Endothelium: How it lays the groundwork for plaque growth - And how to put a stop to it! The endothelium is the single-celled layer lining the arteries of the body. In fact, it’s the most extensive organ system in the human body. It’s a fragile organ that injury transforms into a plaque-lined landmine. Endothelial injury precedes real trouble by years. Here’s how to recognize when you have it and nutritional supplements and health strategies to help correct it.

Winning Your Personal War with Heart Disease: The Track Your Plaque 5 Stages of Success Successfully conquering coronary heart disease takes place in several stages. Completely reversing heart disease to a achieve a zero heart scan score is not necessary to lead a happy and safe life. Here are the five stages of success that we observe in the Track Your Plaque program and how each one reduces your heart attack risk.

CT heart scans and radiation: The real story Our concerns about radiation exposure all boil down to concern over lifetime risk for cancer, a disease that strikes approximately 20% of all Americans. Radiation is just one source of risk, though to some degree a controllable one.  Where do heart scans fit in?

An Interview with Dr. Bill Blanchet: Heart Disease Prevention Champion We stumbled upon Dr. Bill Blanchet's provocative commentary entirely by accident in a physician forum passionately arguing for heart scanning and intensification of heart disease prevention. So we tracked this free-thinking doctor down to share his ideas.

An Interview with Dr. Joel Fuhrman: The Master of Fasting Fasting may present a chance for accelerated plaque control, such as that at the very beginning of your program. So we went to an expert in fasting, Dr. Joel Fuhrman, to get his take on just how fasting could benefit those of use with an interest in plaque control and reversal.

The Track Your Plaque New Website Survey Results Thank you to all the Track Your Plaque Members who participated in the New Website Survey.  Your opinions, comments and suggestion are already being incorporate into the new website design.

What is Plaque? We track it. We try to control it, stop it, reverse it. But what exactly is plaque? If we were unable to identify and measure plaque, there would be no Track Your Plaque program. In other words, without the ability to detect, quantify, and track coronary plaque, there would be no need for our program or any effort to try and exert control over this thing.

Track Your Plaque in the News: Vitamin D and Plaque Regression Data Reported at FASEB Meetings Dr. Davis and Dr. Rockway of Rush University Medical Center collaborated to present Track Your Plaque's findings regarding Vitamin D and plaque regression at the Experimental Biology symposium in San Diego.

The ups and downs of high blood pressure: What it all means This simple measure, obtained routinely on any doctor’s office visit, is often taken for granted or misunderstood. Sure, it goes high and poses risk for heart disease. So what more is there to say?

Coronary plaque: Is your thyroid to blame? It is Track Your Plaque’s mission to help identify every possible advantage for stopping or reversing plaque growth. Hypothyroidism, including subclinical hypothyroidism, has been linked to both coronary heart disease and distortions in lipid and lipoprotein patterns.

An Interview with thyroid advocate, Mary Shomon Track Your Plaque Members already know that a new awareness of thyroid disease, particularly hypothyroidism (low thyroid), is important for plaque control purposes, so we tracked Mary Shomon down from her busy schedule to help us better understand a few crucial thyroid health issues.

Uric Acid: Inflammation, endothelial dysfunction . . . coronary risk factor?m Uric acid is the inevitable by-product of tissue degradation, though blood levels are very sensitive to lifestyle practices. Though traditionally regarded only as a cause for kidney stones and gout, uric acid is also emerging as a potential risk factor for coronary plaque.

Thermoregulation and the Track Your Plaque Program The regulation of body temperature - thermoregulation - is a reflection of the body’s capacity to maintain temperature within a narrow range. Deviations can signal disruption of internal control and provide insight into metabolic health.

The Track Your Plaque Forum: Debate On Statin Use: Master Contributors and Doctor Davis Weigh In Ever wonder what goes on in the Track Your Plaque Forum? Here is an example of the in depth discussions on heart disease prevention and reversal you may be missing! With over 3100 topics and 21,000 posts on virtually every aspect of heart disease reversal and a community of highly educated and dedicated Members ready to answer questions and assist your efforts, can you really afford to be without this world-class resource?

Meet Dr. Su: Detective on the Trail of the Carbohydrate Killer! At a time when we have added postprandial glucose checks to our panel of Track Your Plaque essential strategies, Dr. Su adds his own unique perspective as an anesthesiologist, pharmacist, and victim of low-fat, high-carbohydrate conventional advice.

Audio Special Reports (narrated by Dr. William Davis)

The Track Your Plaque Diet - Part 1 Listen to or download the "director's cut" of  The Track Your Plaque Diet - Part 1.  The audio version of this special report is full of new material and personal insights from the creator of the Track Your Plaque Program, Dr. William Davis.

The Track Your Plaque Diet - Part 2a Listen to or download the "director's cut" of  The Track Your Plaque Diet - Part 2a.  The audio version of this special report is full of new material and personal insights from the creator of the Track Your Plaque Program, Dr. William Davis.

The Track Your Plaque Diet - Part 2b Listen to or download the "director's cut" of  The Track Your Plaque Diet - Part 2b.  The audio version of this special report is full of new material and personal insights from the creator of the Track Your Plaque Program, Dr. William Davis.

Book Reviews

NO More Heart Disease For years, scientists searched for Endothelial Derived Relaxation Factor (EDRF) the mysterious substance responsible for signaling blood vessels to "relax" and dilate. The book gets its curious capitalization of the word "NO" from "Nitric Oxide" the substance discovered as being the elusive EDRF.

Success Stories

In-Depth Success Stories: A 45% Reduction in Calcium Score! Lee got his share of misinformation before he stumbled onto the Track Your Plaque program.

In-Depth Success Stories: A 500+ point drop in score—without prescription drugs! Roy came to the Track Your Plaque program for answers. He also expressed his firm commitment to following the program without resorting to the use of any prescription drugs.

Success Stories: Neal T. - 51% Reduction After the initial gut-wrenching scare to Neal and his family on first learning of his high heart scan score at age 40, the enormous drop in his score brought a big sigh of relief.

Success Stories: Amy A. - 63% Reduction Her initial score put Amy in the 90th percentile (worst 10% for her age group). The score came as a surprise to her, despite the fact that her brother had his first heart attack at age 48, her mother had a heart attack at age 50.  But, in the midst of a personal tragedy, she overcame the odds.

Newsletter Archive

February 2010 Can Fish Oil Keep You Young?

November 2009 Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Psychological Health

October 2009 The omega-3 index: Shedding new light on cardiac risk

September 2009 The Hidden Heart Health Hazard Everyone is Afraid to Talk About!

July 2009 Your doctor may be hazardous to your health!

June 2009 Another Track Your Plaque success story: I Beat Heart Disease ... Despite My Doctors!

April 2009 Another Track Your Plaque success story: What to do when plaque doesn’t stop growing?, Thyroid and coronary plaque, Thank you, Crestor®

July-August 2008 Another Track Your Plaque success story: 45% drop in heart scan score!, Hard plaque, soft plaque: What do they mean?, Bait and switch

June 2008 Another Track Your Plaque success story: A conquest over stress!, What Tim Russert’s doctors didn’t tell him, Cheerios for heart health?

April-May 2008 Another Track Your Plaque success story: • Another Track Your Plaque success story: Track Your Plaque saves the day!, Calcium on the inside or calcium on the outside? , Does warfarin (Coumadin®) increase heart scan scores?

March 2008 Another Track Your Plaque success story: A 500+ point drop in score—without prescription drugs!, Do heart scans make it too easy?, Wisdom of the masses.

February 2008 Another Track Your Plaque success story: A BIG drop in heart scan score!, Heart scans uncover aneurysms.

January 2008 Another Track Your Plaque success story: Lipoprotein(a) bites the dust!, Will a heart scan help me if I have a stent?, Will a heart scan help if I’ve had bypass surgery?

November-December 2007 Another Track Your Plaque success story: It’s not brain surgery!, Why be satisfied with deceleration?, Is heart disease a deficiency of statin drugs?

October 2007 Another Track Your Plaque Success Story: Stopping a charging locomotive!, Are you a wheat-aholic?, Heart scans: Mammograms of the heart

September 2007 What constitutes “success” in the Track Your Plaque program?, Can cholesterol trump your heart scan?, It’s the plaque, stupid!

August 2007 Another Track Your Plaque success story!, Are heart scans dangerous?, How tough are the Track Your Plaque 60-60-60 targets?

July 2007 Another Track Your Plaque success story!, “What do you think about those heart scans?”, Prophylactic bypass operation?

May-June 2007 Another Track Your Plaque success story!, When is the time right to get a 2nd heart scan?, If your heart scan score increases, calculate your annual rate of increase!

April 2007 Another Track Your Plaque success story!, Calcium in plaque: Passive or active participant?, My stress test was normal. I don’t need a heart scan!

March 2007 Another Track Your Plaque success story!, Is Your Doctor a Fortune Teller?, The Significance of Second Heart Scans

February 2007 Another Track Your Plaque success story!, Smiles win out over frowns

January 2007 Another Track Your Plaque success story!, Men and Women Aren't Equal, Suffocating from Overweight

December 2006 Another Track Your Plaque success story!, Calcium: Hard or Soft Plaque?, Heart disease "reversal" by stress test

November 2006 Another Track Your Plaque success story!, The Track Your Plaque “Rule of 60”

October 2006 Another Track Your Plaque success story!, “I’ve been having pains in my chest. Should I get a heart scan?”

August-September 2006 Another Track Your Plaque success story!, When a heart scan is MORE than just a heart scan

July 2006 Another Track Your Plaque success story!, 5 steps to take to reduce your heart scan score

June 2006 Another Track Your Plaque success story!, When should you have another scan?, Can carotid plaque be reversed?

May 2006 My score exploded on Lipitor, Not all heart scans are heart scans

April 2006 Yet another Track Your Plaque success story!, You have no business having a heart attack!

March 2006 Another Track Your Plaque success story!, Lipoprotein(a), Lipitor and calcium scores.

January 2006 Phytosterols: Protection or poison?, Track Your Plaque personal trainer, coming attractions.

October 2005 A Track Your Plaque success story and the dangers of high fructose corn syrup.

Online Chat Transcripts

December 2, 2009 Chat with Dr. Davis

November 10, 2008 Chat with Dr. Davis

July 10, 2008 Chat with Nurse Dawn

June 28, 2007 Chat with Dr. Davis

February 21, 2007 Chat with Dr. Davis

October 18, 2006 Chat with Dr. Davis