Living Well with Heart Failure

The Misnamed, Misunderstood Condition
Erscheinungsjahr 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8018-9423-7
Verlag: Johns Hopkins University Press

Buch, Englisch, 280 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 462 g

Heart failure—the expression alone is scary. The idea that the blood-pumping organ in our chest can struggle, stutter, or suddenly stop is deeply disconcerting. But for those who get the diagnosis, the future is not necessarily bleak. With the right treatments and a healthy lifestyle that includes exercise and good nutrition, many people with heart failure can improve their condition and live well.

Heart failure expert Edward K. Kasper, M.D., teams with journalist—and survivor—Mary Knudson to give readers an honest account of this misunderstood condition. The authors explain the complex science of heart failure and look critically at the care available.

Living Well with Heart Failure, the Misnamed, Misunderstood Condition will help readers understand:

• The causes of the condition
• Normal and abnormal heart rhythms
• How to recognize symptoms and when to seek treatment
• Which diagnostic tests to expect

• The best treatments for different types of heart failure
• How pacemakers work
• The advantages and disadvantages of implantable cardioverter defibrillators

• How to be safer in a hospital
• What exercises result in increased heart, leg, arm, and core body strength

• What foods to eat and what to avoid

Informed by the shared knowledge of doctor and patient, those diagnosed with heart failure and their loved ones will learn how to effectively manage the condition in this comprehensive and compassionate guide.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kasper, Edward K.

Knudson, Mary

Fachgebiete

• Medizin | Veterinärmedizin Medizin | Public Health | Pharmazie | Zahnmedizin Medizin, Gesundheitswesen Medizin, Gesundheit: Sachbuch, Ratgeber

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction
Part I: The Causes and Diagnosis of Heart Failure
1. What Is This Thing Called Heart Failure?
2. Coronary Artery Disease: The Major Cause of Heart Failure
3. Cardiomyopathy: A Leading Cause of Heart Failure
4. Diagnosing Heart Failure and Its Causes
Part II: Treatments for Heart Failure
5. Drug Treatments
6. Conversations of the Heart: Arrhythmias and Pacemakers
7. Straight Talk about Sudden Death: Should I Get an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator?
8. Surgical Treatments
9. Device Treatments for the Critically Ill
10. Getting a New Heart
11. Future Therapies
Part III: The Challenges of Living with Heart Failure
12. Nutrition and Heart Failure, by Samantha Heller
13. Exercise: How Much and What Kind?
14. The Patient-Doctor Therapeutic Relationship
15. What You Need to Know about the Hospital
16. Heart Failure in Elderly People
17. What You Can Do for Yourself
18. Where to Find More Information
Epilogue
Appreciation
Appendix: Trade Names and Generic Names of Drugs
Notes on Sources
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Kasper, Edward K.
Edward K. Kasper, M.D., is the E. Cowles Andrus Professor in Cardiology and Director of Clinical Cardiology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Knudson, Mary
Mary Knudson is a national award-winning medical writer and editor. She was diagnosed with heart failure in 2003 and got well.