The China Study by Thomas Campbell

128 THE CHINA STUDY

CHART 5.4: CORONARY ARTERY BEFORE AND AFTER

CONSUMING PLANT-BASED DIET

adopting a whole foods, plant-based diet, that same artery opened up,
reversing the ravages of heart disease and allowing a much more normal
blood flow, as shown in the picture on the right (B).
Is it possible that Dr. Esselstyn just got a lucky group of patients? The
answer is no. Patients this sick with heart disease don't spontaneously
heal themselves. Another way to check the likelihood of this degree of
success is to look at the five patients that dropped out of the dietary pro-
gram and resumed their standard care. As of 1995 , these five people had
fallen prey to ten new coronary eventsY Meanwhile, as of 2003 , seventeen
years into the study, all but one patient following the diet are still alive,
headed into their seventies and eighties.^45