Table of Contents
Murad Produces Wellness Book
on Everyday Benefits of Nitric Oxide
Book for consumers that applies research on nitric oxide to overall personal wellness
The only Nobel laureate working in Houston’s Texas Medical Center has just published a book for consumers that applies his research on nitric oxide to overall personal wellness.
Ferid Murad, M.D., Ph.D., is director of The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases and director of its Research Center for Cell Signaling, both part of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He received the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology in 1998 for his work with nitric oxide – a colorless, odorless gas that signals the blood vessels to relax and widen, lowering blood pressure.
His new book, The Wellness Solution, written with Edward A. Taub, M.D., and David Oliphant, is an effort to teach people about a “very complicated biology subject that has a big impact on their everyday lives,” Murad said.
The regimen of diet, exercise, vitamins and antioxidants “works by increasing the nitric oxide levels of your body and that’s good for you,” he said. “Learning how to increase nitric oxide in the blood may help keep the body in balance.”
When asked to describe what the book calls the Taub-Murad-Oliphant Syndrome (TMO), Murad said most people are vitamin deficient, and it is hard to get vitamins through a normal diet. Consequently, he recommends multi-vitamins and antioxidants among other things.
The Wellness Solution teaches readers how to transform habits, goals and expectations in order to support the production of nitric oxide. It combines science with everyday lifestyle tips and provides a seven-day menu plan with healthy recipes, essential exercises, and a 28-day Wellness Solution journal to help readers track their progress.
“We wanted to show people how they could take control of their health. The things we recommend for wellness are designed to augment what their doctors are already doing for them,” said Murad, who holds the John S. Dunn Sr. Distinguished Chair in Physiology and Medicine in the UT Medical School at Houston and is a faculty member in the UT Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston.
The book stemmed from a call from Taub several years ago. Taub was interested in developing a line of nutritional supplements, having read about the connection between nutritional supplements and nitric oxide. Although nothing came of that particular idea, the question came up whether they could put together a book to discuss nitric oxide in general lay terms for the public.
That is when David Oliphant got involved. He is a former baseball player and has written many children’s books. “He’s able to take difficult subjects and simplify them for children,” Murad said.
This is Murad’s first book for the general public. He sees it as an extension of his initial health education effort, a children’s video about his Nobel Prize.
The Wellness Solution currently is available for $24 through QVC (item number # A8954) at http://www.qvc.com/index.html.
By David R. Bates, Institutional Advancement