Description:
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
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