8 Steps to a Healthy Heart: The Complete Guide to Heart Disease Prevention and Recovery from Heart Attack and Bypass Surgery

Kowalski ( The Eight Week Cholesterol Cure ) is a heart attack (at ages 36 and 42) and bypass veteran. In this pep-talk detailing his own recovery, he also provides a comprehensive, step-by-step program for improving cardiovascular health. His positive approach and optimistic outlook for heart patients and former patients is evident throughout. And he also doesn't overlook the fact that heart disease is an equal-opportunity malady, noting that although it's the No. 1 killer of women, it still has not been studied thoroughly in this group. (To his credit, Kowalski chronicles how one woman--former First Lady Betty Ford--courageously coped with both heart disease and bypass surgery.) Readers will find the basics here: how patients should return to work, continue a normal sex life and deal with stress. There are also detailed chapters on how to improve one's mental attitude after a heart attack or surgery; stopping smoking; proper diet and exercise; the medications most frequently prescribed for heart patients; and charts comparing the drugs and their side effects. Author tour. (Jan.)