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David Hywel Davies (16 August 1924 [1] – December 2016) was a Welsh cardiologist and writer. He wrote extensively on a range of medical and scientific subjects.
Born in Swansea, Wales in 1924, Davies attended Swansea Grammar School (now known as Bishop Gore School) and gained a Meyricke Exhibition in chemistry at Jesus College, Oxford. He interrupted his studies in 1943 to join the Royal Engineers, in which regiment he was commissioned and served in Italy, India and Malaya. Upon returning to Oxford in 1946, he changed his degree and started reading medicine. Davies undertook his clinical studies at Westminster Hospital, London, where he gained the Sturges Prize in clinical medicine and a BMA prize for his essay on Clinical Teaching in Relation to the Practice of Medicine. He qualified BM, BCh in 1952.
After various appointments in paediatrics and general medicine, Davies specialised in cardiology and took up a residency at the University of Colorado Medical Center in Denver. After a year he was appointed by Dr Paul Wood as registrar at the National Heart Hospital and Institute of Cardiology in London. Subsequently he was senior registrar and senior lecturer at Guy's Hospital and was awarded the Carey-Coombs prize of the University of Bristol. Dr Davies graduated with a D.Phil. from Jesus College, Oxford in 1965 with a thesis entitled Respiratory disturbances in congenital heart disease. In 1967 he was invited to join the faculty of the University of Colorado, Denver, and was Chief of Cardiology at the VA Hospital in Denver .
Davies married his wife Lucette in 1955. The couple had one daughter, who lives in London. Dr Davies lived in Sion, Switzerland and devoted most of his time to writing. He died in December 2016. [2]
Dr Davies gave the first comprehensive description in 1959 of the chest deformities which accompany congenital heart disease and their relationship to disturbed lung function. [3] The typical barrel-shaped deformity accompanying the large ventricular septal defect was called the "Hywel Davies chest deformity" by Dr Paul Wood and was known as such for some years, and as the "Thorax of Davies" on the continent . He showed that it was the result of increased stiffness of the lungs due to high flow and pressure of blood in them. These observations of the relationship of the circulation to lung function were followed by a more general study of the causes of breathlessness in heart disease, which led to a series of papers in the 1960s and 70's analysing the interplay of chemical changes in the blood (acidity, oxygenation and carbon dioxide level), mechanical factors in the control of breathing in various forms of heart disease as well as in normal people. He was associated closely in those years with active and pioneering cardiac surgical programmes (Drs Henry Swan, George Pappas and Thomas Starzl in Denver, Sir Russell Brock and Mr Donald Ross at Guy's Hospital).
In the 1970s and 80's Dr. Davies became increasingly interested in coronary artery disease and its causes, for that now constituted the majority of his practice. He believes that medicine took a wrong turning when it elected to devote the bulk of its resources to studying cholesterol and to largely inconclusive clinical trials based on flawed statistical manipulation. He did not accept that elevated cholesterol levels were the main cause of coronary disease, nor that eating margarine or not eating eggs would have any beneficial effects. [4] He emphasised that the beginnings of coronary disease could occur in childhood and that the first changes consisted of undue multiplication of cells in the inner lining of the coronary arteries, and that these had little to do with fats and cholesterol. He was given the opportunity to study these further in an accelerated human form when he was asked by Mr (now Sir) Terence English to join him at Papworth Hospital, where he worked from 1986 to 1988 as consultant cardiologist to the heart transplant programme.
During these years he became increasingly interested in the role of ionic calcium in the control of cell division, and the environmental causes of disturbance of calcium metabolism, especially excessive intakes of calcium, vitamin D and phosphorus. He has pointed out in recent publications such as "The Child, The Environment and Coronary Heart Disease", [5] the subtle inter-relationships that exist in the genesis of coronary disease, including pre-natal influences, infant feeding patterns, and the particular role of calcium and inflammation. The failure to recognise these, he believes, has been responsible for the lack of real progress in the understanding of heart disease as well as cancer, which is also an aberration of cell multiplication. He is much opposed to current attempts, mostly by non-clinicians, to increase the intake of Vitamin D without any consideration of its deleterious cardiovascular effects, which he sees as unwise and even dangerous. His singular views have recently been expressed in a self-published monograph entitled "Vitamin D in Disarray" [6] where he calls into serious question the existence of widespread Vitamin D deficiency as well as the associations claimed between geographic latitude and various diseases such as multiple sclerosis and cancer.
In the chapter "New Year's Aspirations and Alternative Medicine" from Uncle Ebe and Other Stories, Davies asserts that much criticism of alternative medicine in general and homoeopathy in particular is faulty. He suggests that large scale statistical analysis of the benefits of such treatments are impossible because "in homeopathy each individual is treated as unique, and no two patients receive the same medications for the same complaint" and so "the number of factors involved the decision making becomes so great that statistical comparisons are worthless". He goes onto argue that many homoeopathic sceptics ignore evidence from the field of materials science, stating that "the assumption that great dilutions of active principles imply the ultimate absence of useful properties is intuitively reasonable but is only an assumption and is probably wrong". [7]
Davies disagrees that global warming is the result of human activity and argues that the most pressing threat to humanity's future consists of pollution caused by the growth in the number of new chemical products that have found their way into the human food chain over the last half-century. Orthodox medical advice about diet has been wrong he believes, pointing to the increase in obesity and diabetes rates as evidence for this claim.
Books
Modern Medicine, Abelard, London 1977
The Child, its Environment, and the Development of Coronary Arterial Disease, (in press)
Understanding Cardiology, (with W.P. Nelson), Butterworths, Boston and London 1978
Uncle Ebe and Other Stories, The Memoir Club, Durham 2010
Vitamin D in Disarray, self-published monograph, Sion 2010
Selected Articles
Ailward D, Davies DH, Hecker R : Effects of Venostasin on Serum Cholesterol Levels. Br Med J 1, 398, 1955.
Davies H : Chest Deformities in Congenital Heart Disease, Brit J Dis Chest 53, 151–155, 1959.
Davies H, Williams JV, Wood P : Lung Stiffness in States of Abnormal Pulmonary Blood Flow and Pressure, Brit Heart J 24, 129–138, 1962.
Davies H : "On the Therapy of Coronary Artery Disease" (Editorial). Am J Med Sci 258, 371–373, 1969
Davies H : Symptoms in Congenital Heart Disease : Factors in Their Genesis and the Surgeon's Role in Their Alleviation Guy's Hosp Rep 118, 129–157, 1969.
Davies H : Cerebral Blood Flow in Drugs and Cerebral Function Ed. WL Smith, CC Thomas, Springfield, 1970.
Davies H : Coronary heart disease : the significance of coronary pathology in infancy and the role of mitogens such as Vitamin D, Medical Hypotheses 1989 ; 30 : 179–185.
Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with the disorders of the heart as well as some parts of the circulatory system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease and electrophysiology. Physicians who specialize in this field of medicine are called cardiologists, a specialty of internal medicine. Pediatric cardiologists are pediatricians who specialize in cardiology. Physicians who specialize in cardiac surgery are called cardiothoracic surgeons or cardiac surgeons, a specialty of general surgery.
Coronary artery disease (CAD), also called coronary heart disease (CHD), ischemic heart disease (IHD), or simply heart disease, involves the reduction of blood flow to the heart muscle due to build-up of plaque (atherosclerosis) in the arteries of the heart. It is the most common of the cardiovascular diseases. Types include stable angina, unstable angina, myocardial infarction, and sudden cardiac death. A common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may travel into the shoulder, arm, back, neck, or jaw. Occasionally it may feel like heartburn. Usually symptoms occur with exercise or emotional stress, last less than a few minutes, and improve with rest. Shortness of breath may also occur and sometimes no symptoms are present. In many cases, the first sign is a heart attack. Other complications include heart failure or an abnormal heartbeat.
The heart is a muscular organ in most animals, which pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide to the lungs. In humans, the heart is approximately the size of a closed fist and is located between the lungs, in the middle compartment of the chest.
Angina, also known as angina pectoris, is chest pain or pressure, usually due to insufficient blood flow to the heart muscle.
Atherosclerosis is a disease in which the wall of the artery develops abnormalities, called lesions. These lesions may lead to narrowing due to the buildup of atheromatous plaque. Initially, there are generally no symptoms. When severe, it can result in coronary artery disease, stroke, peripheral artery disease, or kidney problems, depending on which arteries are affected. Symptoms, if they occur, generally do not begin until middle age.
Coronary artery bypass surgery, also known as coronary artery bypass graftsurgery, and colloquially heart bypass or bypass surgery, is a surgical procedure to restore normal blood flow to an obstructed coronary artery. A normal coronary artery transports blood to the heart muscle itself, not through the main circulatory system.
The coronary arteries are the arterial blood vessels of coronary circulation, which transport oxygenated blood to the heart muscle. The heart requires a continuous supply of oxygen to function and survive, much like any other tissue or organ of the body.
Chest pain is pain or discomfort in the chest, typically the front of the chest. It may be described as sharp, dull, pressure, heaviness or squeezing. Associated symptoms may include pain in the shoulder, arm, upper abdomen, or jaw, along with nausea, sweating, or shortness of breath. It can be divided into heart-related and non-heart-related pain. Pain due to insufficient blood flow to the heart is also called angina pectoris. Those with diabetes or the elderly may have less clear symptoms.
A cardiac stress test is a cardiological test that measures the heart's ability to respond to external stress in a controlled clinical environment. The stress response is induced by exercise or by intravenous pharmacological stimulation.
Coronary thrombosis is defined as the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel of the heart. This blood clot may then restrict blood flow within the heart, leading to heart tissue damage, or a myocardial infarction, also known as a heart attack.
Cardiac surgery, or cardiovascular surgery, is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. It is often used to treat complications of ischemic heart disease ; to correct congenital heart disease; or to treat valvular heart disease from various causes, including endocarditis, rheumatic heart disease, and atherosclerosis. It also includes heart transplantation.
Variant angina, and less commonly Prinzmetal angina,vasospastic angina, angina inversa, coronary vessel spasm, or coronary artery vasospasm, is a syndrome typically consisting of angina in contrast to stable angina which is generally triggered by exertion or intense exercise, commonly occurs in individuals at rest or even asleep and is caused by vasospasm, a narrowing of the coronary arteries due to contraction of the heart's smooth muscle tissue in the vessel walls. In comparison, stable angina is due to the permanent occlusion of these vessels by atherosclerosis.
Unstable angina (UA), also called crescendo angina and Preinfarction angina, is a type of angina pectoris .As the name denotes it is an Unstable and potentially dangerous situation. It can suddenly progress to Heart Attack(Myocardial Infarction).It is also one of the three types of acute coronary syndromes(ACS).(The other two being two types of Myocardial Infarctions).
Avijit Lahiri is a researcher in cardiology in the UK.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to cardiology, the branch of medicine dealing with disorders of the human heart. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease and electrophysiology. Physicians who specialize in cardiology are called cardiologists.
Coronary ischemia, myocardial ischemia, or cardiac ischemia, is a medical term for a reduced blood flow in the coronary circulation through the coronary arteries. Coronary ischemia is linked to heart disease, and heart attacks. Coronary arteries deliver oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle. Reduced blood flow to the heart associated with coronary ischemia can result in inadequate oxygen supply to the heart muscle. When oxygen supply to the heart is unable to keep up with oxygen demand from the muscle, the result is the characteristic symptoms of coronary ischemia, the most common of which is chest pain. Chest pain due to coronary ischemia commonly radiates to the arm or neck. Certain individuals such as women, diabetics, and the elderly may present with more varied symptoms. If blood flow through the coronary arteries is stopped completely, cardiac muscle cells may die, known as a myocardial infarction, or heart attack.
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to a part of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may travel into the shoulder, arm, back, neck or jaw. Often it occurs in the center or left side of the chest and lasts for more than a few minutes. The discomfort may occasionally feel like heartburn. Other symptoms may include shortness of breath, nausea, feeling faint, a cold sweat or feeling tired. About 30% of people have atypical symptoms. Women more often present without chest pain and instead have neck pain, arm pain or feel tired. Among those over 75 years old, about 5% have had an MI with little or no history of symptoms. An MI may cause heart failure, an irregular heartbeat, cardiogenic shock or cardiac arrest.
A myocardial bridge (MB) is a congenital heart defect in which one of the coronary arteries tunnels through the heart muscle itself (myocardium). In normal patients, the coronary arteries rest on top of the heart muscle and feed blood down into smaller vessels which then take blood into the heart muscle itself. However, if a band of muscle forms around one of the coronary arteries during the fetal stage of development, then a myocardial bridge is formed - a "bridge" of heart muscle over the artery. Each time the heart squeezes to pump blood, the band of muscle exerts pressure and constricts the artery, reducing blood flow to the heart. This defect is present from birth. It is important to note that even a very thin ex. < 1 mm and/or short ex. 20 mm MB can cause significant symptoms. MBs can range from a few mm in length to 10 cm or more.
Cardiac imaging refers to non-invasive imaging of the heart using ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), or nuclear medicine (NM) imaging with PET or SPECT. These cardiac techniques are otherwise referred to as echocardiography, Cardiac MRI, Cardiac CT, Cardiac PET and Cardiac SPECT including myocardial perfusion imaging.
The BaleDoneen Method is a risk assessment and treatment protocol aimed at preventing heart attack and stroke. The method also seeks to prevent or reduce the effects of type 2 diabetes, technically known as diabetes mellitus type 2. The method was developed by Bradley Field Bale and Amy Doneen.
