Our knowledge of breathing has shaped our social history and philosophical beliefs since prehistory. Breathing occupied a spiritual status for the ancients, while today it is central to the practice of many forms of meditation, like Yoga. Over time physicians, scientists, and engineers have pieced together the intricate biological mechanisms of breathing to devise ever more sophisticated devices to support and maintain breathing indefinitely, from iron lungs to the modern ventilator. Breathing supplementary oxygen has allowed us to conquer Everest, travel to the Moon, and dive to ever greater ocean depths. We all expect to breathe fresh and clean air, but with an increase in air pollution that expectation is no longer being met. Today, respiratory viruses like COVID-19 are causing disasters both human and economical on a global scale. This is the story of breathing—a tale relevant to everyone.

Cardiovascular diseases kill and disable more than a million Americans each year. The major types of this complex of diseases are coronary heart disease, hypertensive disease, cerebrovascular diseases, rheumatic heart disease, and congenital malformations of the circulatory system. Authors Moriyama, Krueger, and Stamler relate each of these types to etiology, age of patient at onset, clinical course, and socioeconomic impact on the population. For each type of cardiovascular disease they analyze the quantitative data on the incidence, prevalence, and levels and time trends of mortality and on the demographic characteristics of person affected. They also examine international differences in levels and trends in mortality and point out areas for further research. More than thirty-five figures as well as extensive tables document their text.

The Concept of Heart Failure surveys the development of our ideas, both clinical and theoretical, on important aspects of cardiac and pulmonary disease, from the eleventh to the mid-eighteenth century. Before a unified and centralized concept of congestive heart failure was established, individual parts of the syndrome were regarded as discrete clinical entities. As a result, discussion of the syndrome is scattered throughout medieval and Renaissance literature.

Dr. Saul Jarcho, a noted clinician and medical historian, renders a great service in gathering together many little known sources and, with rich commentaries on each author, making them accessible to the modern reader. His translations of Latin, Arabic, and other texts are fluent and skillful. With its thorough documentation, concluding overview, and appendix on the relation between suffocative catarrh and pulmonary edema, The Concept of Heart Failure will be a rich resource for clinicians and historians alike.

Knowledge has increased so greatly since the first appearance of this famous book that the author not only has extensively revised the earlier text, but has added to it considerably. Several new chapter include material on pulmonary hypertension, the Taussig-Bing malformation, defective development of the right ventricle with an intact ventricular septum, and aortic septal defect. The various types of septal defect are discussed as regards both the clinical syndrome and their operability.

An addition to the revised edition is the Visual Index, designed to show at a glance in pictorial form the essential features of the various malformations; the age, sex, and activity of the patient; the size and shape of the heart; the characteristic murmurs; and the electrocardiogram. Dr. Taussig’s approach is clinical throughout, in order to explain clearly the way the heart functions and to enable the physician to reason logically about a malformation. The author’s intention is to aide the physician in making the decisions which are his responsibility—to recommend operation when necessary and to advise against it when it is unlikely to benefit.

Volume I is designed to orient the student and the general practitioner in the basic methods of approach for the diagnosis of congenital malformations of the heart. Although the book emphasizes the information derived from physical examination, X-ray, and fluoroscopy, the angiocardiograms characteristic of the various anomalies are the strong new feature of this volume. The chapter on medical care gives basic information in regard to the treatment of patients with congenital malformations of the heart.

Volume II is designed for the paediatrician, the consultant physician, and the cardiologist, and gives detailed information on each of the specific malformations. The book is heavily illustrated with X-rays and electrocardiograms, which are all based on proved cases. Diagrams of X-rays are inserted to clarify the changes in the contour of the heart. Circulatory diagrams of all the malformations of the heart show the basic changes in the circulation caused by each of them. Illustrations of the anatomical abnormalities have been drawn as accurately as possible from actual specimens.

Knowledge has increased so greatly since the first appearance of this famous book that the author not only has extensively revised the earlier text, but has added to it considerably. Several new chapter include material on pulmonary hypertension, the Taussig-Bing malformation, defective development of the right ventricle with an intact ventricular septum, and aortic septal defect. The various types of septal defect are discussed as regards both the clinical syndrome and their operability.

An addition to the revised edition is the Visual Index, designed to show at a glance in pictorial form the essential features of the various malformations; the age, sex, and activity of the patient; the size and shape of the heart; the characteristic murmurs; and the electrocardiogram. Dr. Taussig’s approach is clinical throughout, in order to explain clearly the way the heart functions and to enable the physician to reason logically about a malformation. The author’s intention is to aide the physician in making the decisions which are his responsibility—to recommend operation when necessary and to advise against it when it is unlikely to benefit.

Volume I is designed to orient the student and the general practitioner in the basic methods of approach for the diagnosis of congenital malformations of the heart. Although the book emphasizes the information derived from physical examination, X-ray, and fluoroscopy, the angiocardiograms characteristic of the various anomalies are the strong new feature of this volume. The chapter on medical care gives basic information in regard to the treatment of patients with congenital malformations of the heart.

Volume II is designed for the paediatrician, the consultant physician, and the cardiologist, and gives detailed information on each of the specific malformations. The book is heavily illustrated with X-rays and electrocardiograms, which are all based on proved cases. Diagrams of X-rays are inserted to clarify the changes in the contour of the heart. Circulatory diagrams of all the malformations of the heart show the basic changes in the circulation caused by each of them. Illustrations of the anatomical abnormalities have been drawn as accurately as possible from actual specimens.

As heart arrhythmia atrial fibrillation (AF) is becoming more prevalent, we explored current and future landscapes for AF-related stroke prevention. Our recommendations target awareness, education and maintaining engagement across health services.

High blood pressure is one of our most severe public health problems, and any national health policy must take account of the dilemmas posed by hypertension. This disease is widespread in the United States, affecting between 10 and 30 percent of the adult population. Of the 24 million Americans so afflicted, only about three million are thought to be adequately treated; yet treatment of all hypertensives would cost perhaps five billion dollars a year.

In their ground-breaking study, Weinstein and Stason apply the tools of cost-benefit analysis to examine the policy implications of existing approaches to hypertension. Their conclusions have important consequences for allocating the resources available to combat the disease, and they identify the salient questions to be answered by new research. The authors' recommendations would lead to significant changes in current approaches (the much-publicized effort to screen for new cases, for instance). They suggest that criteria for case-finding and treatment be radically altered to take account of differences in the complications of high blood pressure as a function of age, sex, and race. They stress patient compliance as the single most important factor in reducing deaths—considerably more important right now than screening. Their research priorities include: determining the extent to which early or mild hypertension affects the rate of complication; pinning down the role that side-effects of medication play in the demonstrably poor adherence of patients to treatment; and developing alternative programs to improve patient adherence.

A seasoned cardiologist shares his experiences, opinions, and recommendations about heart disease and other cardiac problems

A Strong and Steady Pulse: Stories from a Cardiologist provides an insider’s perspective on the field of cardiovascular medicine told through vignettes and insights drawn from Gregory D. Chapman’s three decades as a cardiologist and professor of medicine. In twenty-six bite-sized chapters based on real-life patients and experiences, Chapman provides an overview of contemporary cardiovascular diseases and treatments, illuminating the art and science of medical practice for lay audiences and professionals alike.

With A Strong and Steady Pulse, Chapman provides medical students and general readers with a better understanding of cardiac disease and its contributing factors in modern life, and he also provides insights on the diagnostic process, medical decision making, and patient care. Each chapter presents a patient and their initial appearance, described in clear detail as Chapman gently walks us through his evaluation and the steps he and his associates take to determine the underlying problem. Chapman’s stories are about real people dealing with life and death situations—including the physicians, nurses, medical students, and other team members who try to save lives in emergent, confusing conditions.

The sometimes hard-won solutions to these medical challenges combine new technology and cutting-edge research together with insights drawn from Chapman’s past experiences as an intern and resident in Manhattan during the AIDS epidemic, as a postdoctoral fellow at Duke University in the 1990s, and in practice in Nashville, Tennessee, and Birmingham, Alabama. Conditions addressed include the recognition and management of heart attack, heart failure, arrhythmia, valvular heart disease, cardiac transplantation, broken heart syndrome, hypertension, and the depression some people experience after a heart attack, as well as related topics like statin drugs, the Apple Watch ECG feature, and oral anticoagulants. Finally, the emergence of the COVID-19 virus and its disruption of normal hospital routines as the pandemic unfolded is addressed in an epilogue.

 

Dr. Paul Dudley White was the premier heart specialist of this century. He was recognized as an outstanding bedside doctor, a great teacher, and a widely respected investigator. By his optimism, his pioneer message encouraging physical activity, and his emphasis on avoiding unnecessary invalidism, he changed the outlook of thousands of patients with heart disease and changed it for the better. He was the heart specialist called to see President Eisenhower at the time of his heart attack, and by his frank and authoritative discussions with representatives of the media set a precedent for the handling of all future Presidential illnesses. Known around the world, he used his position as a noted scientist and humanitarian to foster international understanding and the quest for world peace.

From the authors of The Harvard Guide to Women's Health

Heart disease is the number one killer of women in this country. Every year half a million American women die of heart problems--and another 2.5 million are hospitalized for heart disease. This book brings the risks and realities of cardiovascular disease for women into clear focus. Where previous books have concentrated on men, The Women's Concise Guide to a Healthier Heart recognizes and clarifies the significant differences between men and women in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac conditions.

The book lays out in plain English all that we currently know about preventing, recognizing, and living with a heart problem. Does an aspirin a day prevent heart disease in women? Does moderate alcohol consumption help or hurt? What about weight gain in middle age? Estrogen replacement therapy? These are the kinds of everyday, life-and-death questions that are addressed specifically for women in this concise guide. It considers questions of cholesterol and diabetes, stress and depression, diet and smoking. It explores diagnostic procedures and surgeries and explains their differing reliability and benefits for women and men.

Helpfully illustrated and easy to use, clear and comprehensive on every heart problem and related symptom and behavior, this book is the best resource for any woman wishing to understand the health and workings of her heart.