Heart Care for Life - Hardcover

Zaret, Barry L.; Subak-Sharpe M.S., Mr. Genell J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300108699 ISBN 13: 9780300108699

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2006

More than 70 million Americans have some form of heart disease. For each of them, obtaining accurate information about the disease and the many options for dealing with it can be both empowering and life saving. In this book, cardiologist Dr. Barry L. Zaret and Genell Subak-Sharpe offer up-to-date facts about the best treatments available and an innovative approach that shows how treatment programs can be tailored to meet the needs of each unique patient.

There are no short-term fixes and no one-size-fitsall programs, explain Zaret and Subak-Sharpe. Although certain characteristics are common to each form of heart disease and its treatments,these constants must be tempered against individual variables. The authors outline the constants for the full range of cardiovascular conditions, from angina and heart attacks to high blood pressure and cardiac arrhythmias. They then guide readers through the process of assessing personal variables to develop an individual treatment and life-style program.

Written in a warmly reassuring style, this indispensable guide to heart care offers realistic hope and specific directions for designing a lifelong heart care program. Filled with practical advice, instructional case histories, a philosophy for controlling your health, self-tests to assess risk, and questions to ask your doctor, it looks toward an even better future for those with heart disease.

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From the Author:

Q: What is the single most important message for readers of Heart Care for Life?

A: If I were to pinpoint just one message, I’d say, You have the power to change the course and impact of your heart disease.” You can learn about the nature of your disease and form a partnership with your doctor to control it.Q: You stress the need for an individualized approach to cardiac care. Why is this so important?A: No two people are exactly alike, and they don’t necessarily respond to treatment in the same way. There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all” approach to heart disease; therapy must be individualized to meet personal needs and lifestyle.

Q: You emphasize the need for a lifelong commitment to treatment and lifestyle change. Aren’t there any short-term measures?

A: An acute event such as a heart attack calls for intensive, short-term treatment. But after that, preventing a future heart attack and slowing progression of cardiovascular disease requires a lifelong program that covers both medical therapy and lifestyle change.

Q: What has been the most important advance in treating heart disease in your thirty-plus years as a cardiologist?

A: There’s no single breakthrough that stands above all others; instead, as you can see from the scope of this book, we’ve witnessed dozens of advances that have halved the death toll from cardiovascular disease. We can now control high blood pressure, lower blood cholesterol, and treat everything from angina to heart failure. And we’re at the brink of even more lifesaving advances.

Q: You talk about hope. What makes it so important?

A: Studies show that people with the right mindset live longer, and we know that hope is a powerful motivating force. Fortunately, ongoing advances in cardiology are a great source of hope and optimism.

About the Author:

Barry L. Zaret, M.D. is Robert W. Berliner Professor of Medicine and professor of radiology, Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Zaret served as chief of the section of cardiology at Yale from 1978 - 2004 and has been a pioneer in developing the field of noninvasive diagnosis in cardiovascular disease, with an emphasis on nuclear cardiology. Genell Subaksharpe, M.S., is president of G. S. Sharpe Communications, Inc. and has produced or collaborated on more than forty books in health and medicine.

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