Heart Disease For Dummies E-Book

James M. Rippe

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 502

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

The startling truth is, one American dies of heart disease every 33seconds--almost one million deaths each year--and almostone in four Americans has one or more types of heart disease.However, it's also true that it is possible to prevent,treat, and even reverse heart disease--and this plain Englishguide shows you how! Heart Disease For Dummies is for anyone who has beendiagnosed with a form of cardiovascular disease, knows someone whohas, or who wants to learn more about staying heart healthy andpreventing the disease. Leading cardiologist Dr. James Rippedelivers the scoop on the many different forms of heart disease(including angina, heart attacks, arrhythmias, strokes, heartfailure, and other cardiac conditions) as well as the latestresearch, diagnostic techniques, treatment procedures, andmedications. You'll discover how to: * Recognize the risk factors and warning signs of a heartattack * Determine if you h ave heart disease * Distinguish between angina, heart attack, and stroke * Maximize your cardiac function * Find a good doctor and handle a managed care plan * Reverse heart disease through diet, lifestyle changes, andmedications Like the millions of others living with heart disease, you wantto take an active part in managing your health and feeling betterfast. This easy-to-follow guide explains how heart disease affectsthe body and shows you the steps you can take--along with yourdoctor--to improve your quality of life. With the expertadvice, simple diagrams, and valuable tips in this book,you'll: * Keep your blood pressure, cholesterol, and weight undercontrol * Understand the common drug and medical treatments available fortreating heart disease * Draw on the mind/body connection to reduce stress * Interpret the risk factors you can control (physicalinactivity, hypertension, tobacco use) and the ones you can't(heredity, age, gender) * Form a true partnership with your doctor * Explore cardiac rehabilitation programs * Decide if alternative therapies are right for you Featuring heart-healthy recipes and a list of resources to helpsmokers quit the habit, Heart Disease For Dummies is anindispensable resource for living well with this manageablecondition.

Leseprobe

Heart Disease For Dummies, 2nd Edition

by James M. Rippe, MD

Heart Disease For Dummies, 2nd Edition®

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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About the Author

Dr. Rippe is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School with postgraduate training at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is the founder and director of the Rippe Lifestyle Institute in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts and Associate Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts.

Dr. Rippe is founder and director of the Rippe Health Assessment at Florida Hospital Celebration Health. This is a series of comprehensive health evaluations for high-performance individuals conducted at the state-of-the-art medical and fitness facility of Celebration Health in Orlando, Florida.

Dr. Rippe is regarded as one of the leading authorities on preventive cardiology, health and fitness, and healthy weight loss in the United States. Under his leadership, the Rippe Lifestyle Institute has conducted numerous research projects on cardiovascular risk-factor reduction, fitness walking, weight loss, running, basketball, bodybuilding, cycling, rowing, cholesterol reduction, and low-fat diets. Laboratory members have presented more than 120 papers at national, medical, and scientific meetings in the last ten years. Dr. Rippe has written more than 200 publications on issues in medicine, health and fitness, and weight management. He has also written or edited 30 books, including 18 medical texts and 12 books on health and fitness for the general public, including Fitness Walking (Perigee, 1985), The Sports Performance Factors (Perigee, 1986), and Fitness Walking for Women (Perigee, 1987). Both walking books were recipients of National American Health Book Awards. His book on executive fitness, Fit for Success, was published by Prentice Hall Press in June 1989. His book on walking and weight loss, The Rockport Walking Program, was published in fall 1989. Another one of his books, The Complete Book of Fitness Walking, was published by Prentice Hall Press in June 1990. His book, The Exercise Exchange Program, combining exercise and proper nutrition, was published in February 1992. Fit Over Forty, published in 1996, explores lifestyle issues related to cardiovascular health, particularly for individuals older than 40, and focuses on motivating people to take simple steps to take charge of their health and lives. The Joint Pain Prescription, published in 2001, gives practical advice about preventing arthritis.

Dr. Rippe also edits a major textbook that teaches physicians about diverse aspects of cardiovascular medicine and the impact of lifestyle decisions on good health. This textbook, Lifestyle Medicine (Blackwell Science, 1999), is the first textbook to guide physicians in the diverse aspects of how to incorporate lifestyle recommendations into the practice of modern medicine. His intensive-care textbook, Irwin and Rippe’s Intensive Care Medicine (5th edition, 2003; co-edited with Dr. Richard Irwin), is the world’s leading textbook on intensive and coronary care.

Dr. Rippe has developed corporate fitness programs for a variety of companies, including Allstate Life Insurance and The Shimizu Corporation. He serves as Chairman of the Advisory Board for the “Healthy Growing Up” program — a curriculum linking health and fitness for children that was made available free of charge to every U.S. school system in 1992.

Dr. Rippe’s work has been featured on The Today Show, Good Morning America, PBS’s “BodyWatch,” CBS Morning and Evening News, CNN, and in a variety of print media, including The New York Times, New York Times Magazine, L.A. Times, The Wall Street Journal, and many monthly publications. He comments regularly on health and fitness for USA Today, American Health, and Prevention. He served for three years as medical editor for the Television Food Network (TVFN).

In 1989, Dr. Rippe was named Fitness Educator of the Year by the International Dance Exercise Association (IDEA). In 1990, he was named one of the 10 national “Healthy American Fitness Leaders” by the United States Jaycees and the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. In 1992, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from IDEA.

A lifelong and avid athlete, Dr. Rippe maintains his personal fitness with a regular walk, jog, and weight-training program. He holds a black belt in karate and is an avid windsurfer, skier, and tennis player. He lives outside of Boston with his wife, television news anchor Stephanie Hart, and their four children, Hart, Jaelin, Devon, and Jamie.

Dedication

To Stephanie, Hart, Jaelin, Devon, and Jamie, who make my heart sing and provide the cornerstone for my personal program to maintain a healthy heart.

Author’s Acknowledgments

It would be impossible to cite all of the individuals who have provided advice and support during the time it took to complete this book. However, several deserve special recognition for their significant contributions.

First, I would like to acknowledge and applaud the superb writing and editorial skills of my main collaborator, Mary Abbott Waite. This is the sixth book project on which Mary Abbott and I have collaborated. Mary Abbott is a dream writing partner. She has taken complex medical topics and edited my thoughts in a way that makes the message clear, concise, and user-friendly (and, we hope, at times even a little humorous!). Mary Abbott not only writes well but also is a superb researcher. She verified a number of topics that I introduced in various chapters by performing considerable outside research from a variety of other expert sources. She has often added interesting and helpful tips and anecdotes that come either from her own experience or from her friends and relatives.

Second, my Editorial Director and good friend, Beth Porcaro, applied her formidable organization skills to keep this whole process moving forward and on time. Beth manages to accomplish an unbelievable amount of work while maintaining great judgment and a wonderful sense of humor.

I also would like to commend and thank top chefs from across America who wrote the recipes that are included in this book. These include: MaryAnn Saporito Boothroyd, Garrett Cho, Alfonso Constriciani, Constantin Kerageorgiou, Frank McClelland, Donna Nordin, Walter Pisano, Nora Pouillon, Mark Tarbell, and Carl Walker. Titles, restaurant names, and restaurant locations for the contributing chefs can be found with their recipes.

I am also indebted to the talented research staff at my laboratory, the Rippe Lifestyle Institute in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, and Celebration, Florida. Under the superb direction of Research Director Ted Angelopoulos, PhD, MPH, our staff of health-care and research professionals manages to keep a busy laboratory humming along while freeing up time for me to tackle major writing projects such as this.

Many of the clinical insights from this book are employed on a daily basis at my clinical facility, the Rippe Health Assessment at Florida Hospital Celebration Health. My superb staff there have all provided useful insights and ongoing clinical validation of many of the concepts discussed in this book.

My professional colleagues have been a source of continuing intellectual stimulation throughout my career as a cardiologist. I would like to particularly acknowledge Dr. Joseph Alpert, Chief of Medicine at the University of Arizona, who was an early mentor at Harvard Medical School and who has continued to support and fuel my interest in preventive cardiology. Dr. Ira Ockene, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Preventive Cardiology program at UMass Medical School, was an early mentor in invasive cardiology and coronary care and has continued to help clarify my thinking in all aspects of preventive cardiology. My friend and colleague Dr. Richard Irwin has taught me a great deal about both the practice of medicine and the writing and editing of books.

My responsibilities and commitments as a cardiologist and researcher, teacher, consultant, and writer require meticulous attention to details and schedules. My executive assistant, Carol Moreau, does an almost miraculous job in keeping all of these strands of my life intertwined with considerable grace and competence and never loses her cool.

Last, but certainly not least, my darling wife, Stephanie Hart Rippe, has provided the safe harbor without which none of these voyages, literary or otherwise, would be conceivable. While supporting my intense work schedule and often outlandish travel arrangements, she has grounded me with her love and inspired me with her courage, beauty, and intelligence. In addition, she has given me four beautiful daughters: Hart Elizabeth Rippe, Jaelin Davis Rippe, Devon Marshall Rippe, and Jamie Conrad Rippe. These five individuals, who together comprise the “Rippe Women,” continue to make it all worthwhile and have convinced me that I’m not only the luckiest but also the most-loved man in the universe.

To all of these individuals and many others who have helped along the way, my heartfelt gratitude. I hope the final product reflects the strength, commitment, and caring of all those who made it possible. In a small way, I hope that this book helps people who are either engaged in an ongoing battle against the number-one killer in our country — heart disease — or who are seeking to prevent it by providing useful facts, information, and above all motivation to live a heart-healthy lifestyle.

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Contents

Title

Introduction

Why This Book?

How This Heart Owner’s Manual Is Organized

Icons Used in This Book

Part I : Understanding Heart Disease

Chapter 1: Confronting Heart Disease: The No. 1 Health Threat

Exploring How Heart Disease Affects Your Life

Checking Out Why You Should Care about Heart Disease

Taking Charge of Your Heart Health

Assessing Your Risk of a First Heart Attack

Chapter 2: Touring the Heart and Cardiovascular System

Pumping for Life: The Heart

Connecting Every Cell in Your Body: The Cardiovascular System

Keeping the Beat: How the Nervous System Controls Heart Rate

Inviting Heart Disease: The Couch Potato Connection

Sliding down the Slippery Slope toward Heart Disease

Chapter 3: Recognizing Your Risk of Coronary Heart Disease

Defining Risk Factors

Identifying Six Risk Factors That You Can Control

Watching for Risk Factors That You Cannot Modify

Paying Attention to Emerging Risk Factors

Part II : Identifying the Many Forms of Heart Disease

Chapter 4: Understanding the Onset of Coronary Artery Disease, Angina, and Unstable Angina

Defining CAD, or Atherosclerosis

Defining Angina

Defining Unstable Angina

Chapter 5: Understanding Heart Attacks

Defining a Heart Attack

Taking Action — Immediately — for a Possible Heart Attack

Diagnosing and Treating a Heart Attack in the Emergency Room

Treating a Heart Attack in the Hospital Coronary Care Unit

Recuperating from a Heart Attack

Chapter 6: Beating Out of Sync: Arrhythmias

Defining Arrhythmias

Taking a Look at Specific Rhythm Problems

Diagnosing Cardiac Rhythm Problems

Treating Rhythm Problems

Chapter 7: When the Pump Falters: Heart Failure

Defining Heart Failure

Understanding the Causes of Heart Failure

Recognizing the Symptoms of Heart Failure

Diagnosing Heart Failure

Treating Heart Failure

Working with Your Doctor to Fight Heart Failure

Chapter 8: Clotting and Bleeding in the Brain: Stroke

Defining a Stroke

Diagnosing and Treating Stroke in the ER

Managing Stroke in the Hospital

Recovering from Stroke

Finding More Information about Stroke

Chapter 9: Identifying Other Cardiac Conditions

Understanding Peripheral Vascular Disease

Understanding Valvular Heart Disease

Understanding Diseases of the Aorta

Understanding Pericarditis

Understanding Diseases of the Heart Muscle

Understanding Pulmonary Embolism and Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)

Understanding Cor Pulmonale

Understanding Congenital Heart Disease

Understanding Cardiac Tumors

Understanding Cardiac Trauma

Finding More Information

Part III : Finding Out Whether You Have Heart Disease

Chapter 10: Taking the First Step: Going for a Checkup

Tuning In to Your Heart and Health

Going for a Checkup: The Medical History and Physical Examination

The Checkup, Continued: Performing Clinical Laboratory Tests

Screening with Other Tests

Chapter 11: Using Diagnostic Tests

Diagnosing Heart Disease with Noninvasive Tests

Diagnosing Heart Disease Using Nuclear Imaging

Plumbing 101: Diagnosing Heart Disease Using Heart Catheterization

Chapter 12: Forming a Partnership with Your Doctor

Building a Solid Health-Care Partnership

Establishing a Partnership with Your Physician

Considering Special Issues in the Doctor-Patient Relationship

Part IV : Controlling and Treating Heart Disease

Chapter 13: Combating High Blood Pressure

Understanding Hypertension: The Silent Killer

Understanding the Dangers and Causes of Hypertension

Taking Charge of Your Blood Pressure

Working with Your Doctor to Control Your Blood Pressure

Chapter 14: Controlling Cholesterol

Hearing Good News/Bad News about Cholesterol

Getting the Lowdown on Lipids

Treating and Managing Cholesterol Problems

Regarding Special Issues in Controlling Cholesterol

Chapter 15: Understanding Drug and Medical Treatments for Heart Disease

Saving Lives with Emergency Medical Procedures

Making Positive Lifestyle Modifications

Taking an Overview of Drug Therapies

Chapter 16: Treating Heart Disease with Invasive and Surgical Procedures

Treating Rhythm Problems with the Electric Company

Understanding Percutaneous Coronary Interventions (PCIs)

Looking at Coronary Bypass Surgery

Exploring Heart Valve Surgery

Considering Other Forms of Cardiac Surgery

Chapter 17: Evaluating Alternative Therapies: Are They for You?

Defining Alternative Medicine

Recognizing the Difference between the Placebo Effect and Proof

Drawing on Lifestyle Medicine and the Mind/Body Connection

Looking at How Natural Supplements May Help Combat Heart Disease

Part V : Living Well with Heart Disease

Chapter 18: Rehabilitating Your Heart

Understanding Cardiac Rehabilitation

Exploring Varied Cardiac Rehabilitation Components

Educating Yourself about Your Heart Condition

Exercising and Physical Activity as Part of Rehabilitation

Developing Strategies for Long-Term Success

Finding More Information

Chapter 19: Reversing Heart Disease: Hope or Hype?

Turning Back Time

Considering How Coronary Artery Disease Regresses

Getting Practical about Reversing Coronary Artery Disease

Chapter 20: Choosing Heart-Healthy Nutrition and Managing Your Weight

Warming Up to Nutrition — It Isn’t a Four-Letter Word

Choosing Healthy Pleasures: Guidelines for Eating Right While Eating Well

Making Heart-Healthy Eating Part of Your Lifestyle

Chapter 21: Getting It in Gear: Physical Activity and Exercise for Heart Health

Understanding Physical Activity and What It Can Do for Heart Health

Knowing How Much Physical Activity Is Enough

Getting Started the Right Way

Walking Your Way to a Healthier Heart

Sticking with It through the Long Haul

Making Sure You Don’t Overdo It

Chapter 22: Reducing Stress: Tapping the Mind/Body Connection to Improve Heart Health

Understanding the Connections between Stress and the Heart

Making Connections: Friendship, Intimacy, and Cardiac Health

Being “Scared to Death” and Other Mind/Body Links

Keeping Stress and Anger at Bay

Chapter 23: Quitting Smoking

Affirming Reasons for Not Smoking

Understanding Nicotine Addiction: A Chain That Binds

Reviewing the Dangers of Other Forms of Tobacco

Taking Steps to Stop Smoking

Using Helpful Aids to Stop Smoking

Developing a Specific Plan to Quit

Finding More Information

Part VI : The Part of Tens

Chapter 24: Ten Myths about Heart Disease

The Myth of Modern Maturity

The Myth of the Old-Boy Network

The Myth of Thomas Wolfe

The Eisenhower Myth

The Myth of No Pain, No Gain

The Myth of Marathon Monday

The Myth of Pleasingly Plump

The Cave Man Myth

The Myth of the Stiff Upper Lip

The Myth of Jupiter

Chapter 25: Ten Great Heart-Healthy Foods

Olive Oil

Fish

Soy Foods

Soluble Fiber

Whole Grains

Fruits and Vegetables

Plant Sterol Esters

B Vitamins — Folate and B-6

Tea

Alcohol

Chapter 26: Ten Cardiac Signs and Symptoms You Need to Know About

Chest Pain

Shortness of Breath

Loss of Consciousness

Cardiovascular Collapse

Palpitations

Edema

Cyanosis

Cough

Hemoptysis

Fatigue

Chapter 27: Ten Secrets of Long-Term Success

Educate Yourself

Accumulate, Accumulate

Be Prepared

Mix and Match

Be Specific and Prioritize

Include Family and Friends

Be Optimistic

Seize the Day

Form Partnerships

Reward Yourself

Introduction

C onsider these facts:

One American dies of heart disease every 33 seconds — amounting to almost one million deaths every year.

Almost one in four Americans has one or more types of heart disease.

Considering all risk factors for heart disease — high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, being overweight, physical inactivity — not one family in America is left untouched by heart disease.

Regardless of your age, sex, ethnicity, and current heart health, you can acquire the knowledge and take action to work toward a healthier heart and the benefits that go with it.

As you hold this book in your hand to read these facts, your heart is beating away in your chest, sustaining your life. Although it’s about the size of a clenched adult fist and weighs less than a pound, your heart beats 40 million times a year and generates enough force to lift you 100 miles into the atmosphere. What an amazing — and absolutely essential — machine!

Why This Book?

Heart Disease For Dummies is a common-sense guide for everyone. In this book, I give you some advice, simple diagrams, and yes, even an occasional stern lecture about simple things that you can do every day to maximize your cardiac function. You’ll also find some basic strategies and lifestyle practices to reduce your risk of the major forms of heart disease.

If you (or your loved ones) already have heart disease or if you want to lower your risk of getting it, you have come to the right place. I run the largest exercise, nutrition, and cardiac lifestyle research laboratory in the world. I am also a board-certified cardiologist and editor of the major intensive-care textbook in the United States. I personally have performed thousands of heart catheterizations and taken care of many people with all forms of heart disease. I rely on that background and the many important conversations that I’ve had with patients to give you some simple advice about the common conditions related to heart disease. I explore some facts related to coronary artery disease, angina, heart attacks, hypertension, heart failure, and many other cardiac conditions. Along the way, I hope to answer those questions that I am commonly asked and those I suspect many of my patients had but may have been afraid to ask.

When you were born, you were given one heart and one life. Making the best of both is up to you. This book’s goal is to provide simple, straightforward information and answers to help you do just that.

How This Heart Owner’s Manual Is Organized

“Begin at the beginning,” instructs the King of Hearts in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. That’s sound advice, so here’s how to get started.

Part I: Understanding Heart Disease

Part I provides the basic information you need to understand how heart disease affects your heart and your life. Chapter 1 covers why you need to care more about your heart; Chapter 2 explains how the heart works; and Chapter 3 describes the conditions and activities that put the heart at risk for disease.

Part II: Identifying the Many Forms of Heart Disease

Speaking of the dangers of the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt observed, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Fear of heart disease — that you either have it or may get it — can be immobilizing. Modern science and medicine offer many strategies to prevent, diagnose, control, and manage this public health enemy number one. As a heart owner, you’ll find that knowledge is power. Each chapter in this section takes the mystery and fear out of the common conditions that can plague the heart and gives you the ammunition you need to fight back as you work in partnership with your physician and other medical allies.

Chapter 4 covers coronary artery disease, which is the leading cause of death from heart disease and is associated with a wide variety of serious syndromes including angina (chronic chest pain) and heart attack. Chapter 5 looks at heart attacks. Then I turn to other common conditions — rhythm disturbances in Chapter 6 and heart failure (as in congestive heart failure) in Chapter 7. Chapter 8 discusses stroke, a major form of cardiovascular disease and the third leading cause of death in the United States. Chapter 9 covers other cardiac conditions such as valvular heart disease, pericardial disease, and congenital abnormalities (conditions that some people are born with).

Part III: Finding Out Whether You Have Heart Disease

Physicians and modern medical science have extensive diagnostic techniques and tests to assess the state of your heart’s health. In Chapter 10, I discuss how your doctor assesses your heart health and risk of heart disease in a checkup. Chapter 11 is a quick and friendly guide to all the tests and procedures used in evaluating heart problems. Chapter 12 tells you what you need to know about working with your doctor effectively.

Part IV: Controlling and Treating Heart Disease

Controlling health conditions that help cause heart disease is a big part of treating many manifestations of heart disease. Chapter 13 discusses controlling high blood pressure, and Chapter 14 deals with controlling cholesterol. Chapter 15 reviews the most common drug and medical treatments available for treating heart disease, and Chapter 16 covers invasive medical and surgical procedures. I explore alternative therapies in Chapter 17.

Part V: Living Well with Heart Disease

If you’ve had a heart attack or heart surgery, returning to health and a high quality of life starts with cardiac rehabilitation, which I cover in Chapter 18. Is heart disease ever reversible? I look at all the evidence in Chapter 19.

Modern science shows that simple strategies based on proper nutrition, physical activity, weight management, and mind/body connections can both prevent and help control heart disease. Chapter 20 offers compact guidelines for heart-healthy nutrition. Chapter 21 covers the whys, wherefores, and benefits of physical activity. Chapter 22 offers tips about drawing on the power of mind/body connections to reduce stress and achieve success. Chapter 23 provides resources to help you quit smoking, the most important step a smoker can take in improving heart health.

Part VI: The Part of Tens

Even if you skip the rest of the book and do nothing but memorize the ten tips in each of these four chapters, your heart will still thank you.

Oh, and go to the Appendix to check out ten of the tastiest and healthiest dishes ever set before mortal man and woman. If you think healthy eating, by its very nature, has to be boring, you underestimate some of America’s leading chefs.

Icons Used in This Book

This icon signals physiological and scientific information about the heart. But don’t worry — all technical stuff is presented in plain English.

You find facts, practices, and insights that promote or enhance heart health alongside this icon.

The fields of health, fitness, and medicine abound with ideas — some very popular — that have no basis in fact or that are outdated. When it ain’t so, I say so.

This icon indicates practical suggestions you can put to work to help you reach your heart-health goals.

Think of this icon as a caution flag.

Part I

Understanding Heart Disease

In this part . . .

Find the basic information you need to begin taking control of your heart health. First, I share with you why you need to understand how heart disease can affect your life and the good news of what you can do about it. Then it’s time to explore how the miracle machine that is your heart works — cardiac anatomy covered painlessly in one easy chapter. Then I give you an overview of what behaviors and conditions increase your risk of developing heart disease and what you can do about them.