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Heart Health

Having a New Heart and Filling It With Love with Ken Lander: PYP 233

When Ken Lander disembarked from a plane on December 16, 2016, he lost his breath, stumbled, and couldn’t make to baggage claim. When the 430-pound Lander was examined in the emergency room, it was determined that it was a very sick heart that had nearly cost him his life that day.

Further tests revealed a 90% blockage in the left descending artery, and severely compromised heart efficiency (“ejection fraction” in cardio lingo).

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Kim Williams, MD on Building an Evidence-based and Inclusive Cardiology Profession: PYP 218

Kim Williams, MD, is past president of the American College of Cardiology (ACC).

Let’s take a moment to appreciate how amazing that is.

First of all, he grew up poor and black on the South Side of Chicago. One winter he ended up in the hospital with pneumonia; his family couldn’t afford to buy him a coat. His step-dad died of an intercranial hemorrhage when Kim was five years old.

Second, Dr Williams chose medical school over a promising career as a professional tennis player.

Third, he’s the first and thus far only president of the ACC to “come out” as a vegan. The current chairman of cardiology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago has been vegan himself since 2003, and now recommends a vegan diet to his patients as the first line of defense against heart disease.

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