cover image Heart Owner's Handbook

Heart Owner's Handbook

Texas Heart Institute, Thi, Lasttexas Heart Institute. John Wiley & Sons, $21.95 (396pp) ISBN 978-0-471-04420-8

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.)