Heart Owner's Handbook P » (REV)

THE TEXAS HEART INSTITUTE, located in Houston, is one of the largest, most respected heart research and educational facilities in the world. The Institute's breakthrough research in heart surgery, transplants, diagnosis, and medical treatment has set worldwide standards in cardiology and cardiovascular surgery.

DENTON A. COOLEY, M.D., founder and Surgeon-in-Chief of the Texas Heart Institute, is internationally known for his pioneering work in cardiovascular surgery. In 1968, Dr. Cooley and his team performed the first successful heart transplant in the United States, and, a year later, implanted the first artificial heart in a human being.

From one of the most respected cardiovascular research and education facilities in the world comes a personalized wellness program for your most important asset. Take the Institute's simple test to evaluate your heart's health and identify your individual risk factors. Then, use the easy-to-follow, step-by-step programs to improve your overall health. Specifics include:
* Exercise What kind you should do, and how much is enough (Chapters 2 and 15)
* Weight Control What body type are you? A practical approach to attaining a healthy weight (Chapters 4 and 16)
* Managing Stress How to measure and reduce it (Chapters 7 and 18)
* Controlling High Blood Pressure How to detect it, and what to do about it (Chapter 8)
* Lowering Your Cholesterol Count How much is too much, and how you can control it (Chapter 9)
* Nutrition and Recipes The latest guide-lines and 31 delicious, heart-smart recipes (Chapters 3 and 21)
* The Differences Between Men's and Women's Heart Health Pregnancy and childbearing, hormones, menopause, and their relationship to heart disease (Chapter 11)
* Diagnosis and Treatment How to recognize the symptoms of heart disease, what to ask your doctor, and the facts about heart surgery and drug therapy (Chapters 23, 26, and 35)

Publishers Weekly

Thorough and accessible, this manual from the prestigious Texas Heart Institute answers just about every question asked by the curious heart owner-male or female, young or old, healthy or hospitalized. Further, readers are invited to call the institute's free 800 number with queries. From the foreword, by Cooley, the institute's founder and surgeon-in-chief, to the user-friendly glossary, the tone is authoritative and encouraging. The handbook format-short chapters, prominent headings, tables and lots of lists-allows easy browsing. Focusing at first on prevention, the text opens with a do-it-yourself at-risk analysis. Advice on reducing risk through lifestyle changes is pretty standard and includes specific programs for lowering dietary fat and blood cholesterol and programs for physical fitness, quitting smoking and for weight and stress management. The book's final section, which shifts from prevention to treatment, focuses on understanding the cardiovascular system, heart disease symptoms, diagnostic techniques and surgical options. An annotated resource directory is included. (Feb.)