Wiley Publishing (2011)
Adult Nonfiction: Health/Heart Disease
272 pages
Summary: Mention the term "heart disease" and most people picture an overweight, middle-aged man. Yet the reality is that heart disease is the number one killer of women in North America, accounting for a third of all deaths in women and far surpassing the prevalence of breast cancer. Cardiologist Dr. Martha Gulati and holistic pharmacist Sherry Torkos separate the facts from the many myths surrounding heart disease and offer the latest information on both the conventional medical approach and the role of natural medicine in understanding this illness. Saving Women's Hearts examines the unique gender differences for women and provides valuable insight into the screening procedures, diagnosis, treatment options, and most importantly, prevention of heart disease.- from amazon.com
Intro
February is almost over but February is Heart Health Month. When it comes to Heart Disease, most people think of older men. However the scary fact for women like me is that Heart Disease is the number one killer of women.
No one has to tell me this. My MIL died of a heart attack in my house, on my living room floor in 2006. She was 43 and it was her second heart attack (at least.) According to this book, Heart Disease happens early when it's before age 65 in women. So what do they consider 45 and under? Her first heart attack was around age 35.
Do you ever think about your own risk? Perhaps you should. The odds are currently 1 in 3 to have some form of heart disease in your life and it's getting worse. Pretty soon, the average North American woman will have a 50/50 chance of developing heart disease.
Reviewing the Book
As for the book, I think in general, it's a great idea and a much needed book. I've read up on Heart Disease before but I still learned some new things and most importantly, I got some much needed advice on which foods to eat and which to avoid.
However I think the book is not organized the best way. After some basic information (facts, determining your risk etc.) and a little quiz, we go right into tests used for screening for heart disease, heart medications, treatments, natural medicine and then FINALLY we go to eating right, exercising, stress, sleep and how they can help PREVENT heart disease. Shouldn't we learn how to prevent it FIRST and then about how they test for it and treat it?
I think what part of the book you find the most helpful will depend on if you currently have heart disease or not. If not, you would like the prevention chapters better as reading about ALL the medications and treatments will make you overwhelmed.
However if you already have heart disease you will probably find the treatment section more helpful although of course the prevention section is good too as taking care of your health, even when you already have heart disease, will lower your risk of a repeat problem.
I definitely think women need to read this, or something else to become more knowledgeable about their risk and how to recognize the signs (heart attacks present differently in women than they do in men!)
Links of Interest: Saving Women's Hearts at Wiley (see table of contents, index and sample chapters),
Other Reviews: A Motherhood Experience, Multi-Testing Mommy, A Mom After God's Own Heart, Rants and Rascals,
Buy Saving Women's Hearts
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Disclosure - I am participating in the Saving Women’s Hearts program by Mom Central on behalf of Wiley Publishing. I received a copy of the book to review and gift card as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are my own.
