Miracle Stem Cell Heart Repair

Miracle Stem Cell Heart Repair
ChristianWilde
Abigon Press
ISBN: 1-59975-054-6
Non-Fiction, Health
Reviewed by Pamela Crossland

It is very difficult to evaluate a book in which so much good information is so badly presented. To his credit, Wilde has taken complex information and broken it down into user friendly sections; he is passionate about this subject; and, he provides chapter by chapter documentation of each of the many studies he refers to in his text. In addition, a dictionary of terms makes up Appendix I. Heart patients, or anyone dealing with a medical issue, are often overwhelmed by the task of absorbing and understanding the terminology of their disease. It was also interesting to see a list of adult stem cell trials in progress.
Chapter 2 is devoted to explaining exactly what a stem cell is, their subcategories, and origins. In subsequent chapters he explores work done at various hospitals such as the Arizona Heart Institute, Cedars Sinai, and Columbia University. The connection between diabetes and heart disease is given a nod, as is the potential for stem cell treatment to aid in the treatment of diabetes. Chapter 17 deals with prayer and the Minneapolis Prayer Study; it could have been summed up by Tim Henry, the doctor who oversees the study: “We have found that patients who have a positive spiritual outlook tend to do better than patients who do not.” In Chapter 18 he continues off course speculating on the future of stem cell research in the treatment of nine or so diseases. It was a chapter that could easily have been thrown out as most of the data is speculative and not particularly informative. The remaining five chapters sketch lightly issues surrounding ace inhibitors, cholesterol, coenzyme Q10, and statin drugs.
When Wilde sticks to reporting the facts of the research, he does a decent job of reporting. It is when he is left writing on his own rather than quoting a professional that his writing skill and capability fall short of the job. In the first 100 pages he uses an exclamation point more than 20 times – it’s an odd choice of punctuation for a book of this nature, quite distracting. Frankly, the exclamation points and his habit of capitalizing words to make his point (“This is HUGE!”) make this book read like the product of a snake oil salesman. I am a firm advocate of stem cell research but I was left with the feeling that this author was not to be trusted.