A new peer-reviewed study of my patients at the Heart Attack & Stroke Prevention Center in Spokane, Washington shows that the patented BaleDoneen Method, which I co-founded with Dr. Bradley Bale, is remarkably effective at treating, halting and preventing cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading killer of Americans.

The research, which will soon be published in the peer-reviewed journal Archives of Medical Science, found that our comprehensive, science-based CVD treatment shrank the size of plaque in the neck arteries by 52.7% over a two-year period. The study included 324 HASPC patients, whose response to treatment was analyzed by scientists from Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for Prevention of Heart Disease, Dr. Bale, and me.

Our study used carotid intima media thickness (cIMT), the painless 15-minute ultrasound test I discussed in my May newsletter, to evaluate the effect of the BaleDoneen Method on plaque in the neck’s largest arteries, the carotids. This FDA-approved screening can detect hidden risk for heart attack and stroke in seemingly healthy people, allowing them to get early treatment to avoid these events.

All of the patients in the study received extensive behavioral, dietary and lifestyle counseling, which is one of the cornerstones of the BaleDoneen Method. They also were treated with medications and supplements to lower their cholesterol. Those with CVD and/or high blood pressure received additional personalized therapies, which are described more fully in our book, Beat the Heart Attack Gene.

Dramatic Improvements During First Year of Treatment

Our individualized medical management of these patients not only decreased plaque in the neck arteries, but also significantly improved cholesterol levels and blood pressure, with the following outcomes during the first year of treatment:

  • A 50% decrease in lipid-rich arterial plaque (the most dangerous kind)
  • A 43% rise in calcified plaque (the stable form that does NOT cause heart attack and stroke)
  • A 25% drop in LDL (bad) cholesterol
  • A 31% drop in triglycerides
  • A 6% rise in heart-protective HDL (good) cholesterol
  • A 5% decrease in systolic blood pressure (the top number in the reading)

These trends continued in the second year of treatment and beyond. Our new findings add to our 2014 peer-reviewed 8-year study of our patients, published in Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, highlighting the effectiveness of the BaleDoneen Method, which has been adopted by hundreds of leading-edge heart attack and stroke prevention centers all over the world.

The earlier study found significant improvement in cIMT measurements that may lower patients’ risk for heart attack and stroke, along with positive effects on levels of cholesterol and inflammation — the dangerous duo that lead to plaque buildup in the arteries and increased risk for cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks and strokes.

A New Strategy to Save Lives — and Hearts

What’s new, exciting and important about these studies is that they offer scientific evidence that our unique approach to heart attack and stroke prevention works. One of our key goals is transform the current standard of care, which is based on checking patients for certain CVD risk factors, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes.

If none of these factors are found, the patient is assumed to be “innocent” of CVD, which often has no symptoms until it becomes severe enough to trigger a heart attack or stroke. The BaleDoneen Method takes the opposite approach: We assume all patients — regardless of their risk factors — are “guilty” of harboring deadly arterial disease until proven innocent by widely available lab and imaging tests, such as cIMT.

If we detect early signs of CVD — or our tests reveal a patient is at risk for developing it — we use comprehensive, personalized therapies to optimize arterial wellness, ranging from lifestyle changes to medications, supplements and an individualized diet based on the patient’s DNA. In my next newsletter, I’ll take a closer look at the nine foundational elements of the BaleDoneen Method and how each of them can help save your life and heart.

To learn more about our method, please visit our new website. Also check out our videos on YouTube, including our recent webinar with Dr. Joel Kahn, “The Miracle of Heart Disease Reversal,” and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for the latest news and science on heart attack and stroke prevention.