Despite great progress in prevention and treatment, heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States. An estimated one in six Americans will develop some kind of cardiac problem in their lifetime, and each year nearly three-quarters of a million people die from heart disease. Faced with these statistics, Americans naturally have many questions about risk factors, warning signs, treatment options, and numerous other concerns. This comprehensive guide makes crucial, potentially life-saving information about the heart easily accessible. Based on decades of hands-on experience in treating patients, the authors - a cardiothoracic surgeon and a cardiologist, both affiliated with Yale University School of Medicine - address specific questions that they hear virtually every day from the people in their care. Simulating an office visit with heart specialists, the book uses an easy-to-follow format that allows readers to find answers quickly. Numerous professional medical drawings and actual operating-room photographs illustrate important facts and concepts. From well-known problems such as hypertension, high cholesterol, and angina, to lesser-known conditions such as valvular heart disease, rheumatic fever, and arrhythmia, the authors provide clear, up-to-date, fact-based medical information, while avoiding confusing jargon as well as fad therapies. They also discuss tests and diagnoses; lifestyle changes to avoid or to live with heart disease; medications and therapies; and surgical procedures such as bypass grafting, valve replacement, and heart transplants, among other treatments. A special section is devoted to women and their hearts. This superb all-in-one popular reference book on the heart will be a welcome resource for heart patients, their families, healthcare providers, and anyone concerned about a healthy lifestyle.
John A. Elefteriades, MD, William W.L. Glenn Professor of Surgery; Director, Aortic Institute at Yale-New Haven, Yale University School of Medicine
Coronary Artery Disease; Heart Failure; Arrhythmias; Valvular Heart Disease; Hypertension, High Cholesterol and Arteriosclerosis; Heart Attacks; Tests and Diagnoses; Living with Heart Disease: Lifestyle Changes That Protect Your Heart; Treatment: Medications, Therapies and Procedures; Rheumatic Fever, Aneurysms, and Cardiac Tumours; So You Need Heart Surgery; Surgical Procedures; After Surgery; Heart Disease in Women; Glossary; List of Case Vignettes; Index.
""A comprehensive, accessible guide to your internal metronome. Study hard, there might be a test." Mehmet Oz, MD, Author of You: On a Diet and You: The Owner's Manual "This remarkable book - this Owner's Guide - is so user-friendly that it reads like a fascinating conversation between ourselves and two of our nation's most experienced and eminent cardiac specialists. Not only will it be of immense value to everyone with an interest in heart disease, but it serves also as a model of clarity to help physicans learn how to answer their patients' questions in completely lucid and authoritative terms." Sherwin B. Nuland, MD Clinical Professor of Surgery, Yale University Author of How We Die and The Art of Aging
