The Women's Heart Book: The Complete Guide to Keeping Your Heart Healthy (Revised and Updated) - Softcover

Fredric J. Pashkow, MD; Charlotte Libov

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0786884282 ISBN 13: 9780786884285

Publisher: Hyperion, 2001

Synopsis

One of Americas preeminent heart physicians discusses women's heart health in an accessible, groundbreaking, and potentially life-saving book, now completely updated and revised.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in American women. As public awareness of this fact grows, women are paying more attention to the risks of heart disease. In this revised edition of the originally published, highly successful guide to women's heart health, an internationally renowned cardiologist, Dr. Pashkow, and a survivor of open heart surgery, Charlotte Libov, cover every aspect of heart care, heart surgery, and the prevention of heart disease. Drawing from their combined experience, the authors offer information on calculating the risk for heart disease; finding a good doctor; detecting congenital defects; what a pregnant woman needs to know about potential heart problems; and state-of-the art treatments, surgery, and drug therapies. In addition, the book features an effective diet and exercise life-plan that can dramatically reduce the risks of heart disease, especially in women with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or cardiovascular problems. Reassuring and totally up-to-date, The Woman's Heart Book is essential reading for all women.

About this title

Review:

In his preface to The Women's Heart Book, Dr. Fredrick J. Pashkow describes a patient in the emergency room, a middle-aged woman who just suffered a major heart attack. He writes, "I noticed that she was lying stiffly with her fists clenched and her lips tightly pursed. I though at first it was the discomfort. Wrong! She was grievously irate!" The woman had done everything right: she watched her diet, she exercised. Her husband, on the other hand, was a paragon of bad habits. Why, then, was she the one who had had a heart attack?

The mission of The Women's Heart Book is to educate women about the very real risk of heart disease. Pashkow's coauthor, Charlotte Libov, is a writer who discovered at 40 that she needed open-heart surgery. The Heart Book combines Libov's lively investigative curiosity (not to mention her very personal stake in the subject) with Pashkow's exhaustive knowledge. The risks are laid out clearly: women over 65 are just as likely as their male counterparts to develop heart disease. Younger women are by no means off the hook, either. "An estimated 74,000 women under the age of 65 will suffer a heart attack this year." The book moves smoothly from risk to remedy. Pashkow and Libov give some basic heart anatomy information and focus on a combination of prevention and treatment, including a symptom guide to help women discern their need for a doctor; a précis on pregnancy and heart disease; a nutrition guide; and a manageable but thorough description of treatments. There's even an invaluable "Encyclopedia of Heart Problems." The result is a book essential for women who have already had heart problems that's equally recommended for those prudent souls interested in prevention. --Claire Dederer

About the Author:

Fredric J. Pashkow, M.D. is the Medical Director of the Queens Medical Center Heart Institute in Honolulu. He is the former Medical Director of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Preventive Cardiology Programs at the Cleveland Clinic. Charlotte Libov is an award-winning medical author and a contributor to the New York Times and other national publications. Since undergoing open heart surgery in 1990, she has become a popular speaker on women's health issues and is the founder of National Women's Heart Health Day (Feb 1).

About this edition

• Publisher: Hyperion
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0786884282
• ISBN 13: 9780786884285
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384