Saturday, February 10, 2007

Title: A Woman’s Guide to Saving Her Own Life
Author: Mellanie True Hills
Publisher: Healthy Ideas Press
ISBN: 0-9766008-0-3
Genre: Non-Fiction/Health/Self-Help
Key Words: Heart, Health, Women, HEART, Plan

A Woman’s Guide to Saving Her Own Life by Mellanie True Hills is a book written as a self-help guide to educate women in general and women of USA in particular , about the risks of heart disease and the steps that they can take to prevent such diseases or having come through, how to prevent recurrence and worsening of their health. The author was a high pressure executive and almost suffered heart attack and came out with an angioplasty (which was difficult because of the location) and is thus a survivor. She made a fairly intensive research of the various risk factors including heredity, life style, stress etc., and has developed a plan, which she has aptly named as HEART :

H : Healthy eating
E: Exercise daily
A: Attitude
R: Rest, Relaxation and Rejuvenation
T: Take Proactive Control of your health

The book is informative and well written with lots of charts and other inputs to help the reader chalk out her own action plan and see how it goes. Since she herself went through these problems, she comes out as a sincere person and her writing carries conviction. She is active as a speaker for the American Heart Association.

Since it is so informative, the book could have been hard bound to withstand repeated use. A few editorial slips were noticed but they don’t detract from the value of the book.

All in all, this will be a good read for women (and their men), especially this month (February is observed as a heart health month in USA).

Friday, February 02, 2007

Title: Miracle Stem Cell Heart Repair
Author: Christian Wilde
Publisher: Abigon Press
ISBN: 1-59975-054-6
Genre: Health/Medical/Heart Health
Key Words: Heart, Attack, CHF, Stem Cells, Stroke, Angina

This book, published in October 2006 is the companion book for the author's earlier book, "Hidden Causes of Heart Attack and Stroke" published in 2002. In case you have not read that book, I strongly recommend that you read that book and that too read that book first before taking up this one. I assure you that both are easy on the eyes (they use a bigger type face and are printed on off-white paper to avoid glare).

While Christian's earlier book focusses on the preventive aspect of health care, this book focusses on the repair of the damage already done. Stem Cell Research has shown good results in repair of scar tissue in heart attacks, reduced heart enlargements and helped patients of Congestive Heart Failure, helped patients with Angina, Stroke and so on. Thus this book offers hope to the so-called "No Option Patients".

Stem cell research has been in the news for the last few years and many debates are going on about the several issues, ethical and scientific about the use of stem cells in therapy. Christian has brought his journalistic skills (he is the host of a very popular radio talk show) and his deep and accurate understanding of the complicated subject and has presented the same in a easy to read and understand manner.

The author has taken the opportunity to update some of the information presented in the earlier book and thus has added value. The caution about the too low cholesterol and the associated risks of depression, stroke etc., is very timely.

The book is enriched by a number of references, Glossary of Medical Terms and an Index. I only wish it was hard bound to withstand repeated references.

I strongly recommend this book along with the other book for any one interested in heart health issues for themselves or for their family and friends.
Title: Hidden Causes of Heart Attack and Stroke
Author: Christian Wilde
Publisher: Abigon Press
ISBN: 0-9724959-0-8
Genre: Medicine/Heart Health/Fitness
Key words: Heart, Health, Cholesterol, CRP, Homocysteine, Inflammation, Stroke, Fibrinogen

I received this book along with another book written by the same author and which attracted my attention and resulted in my making a review request. And I am so glad that the Publisher sent this book too, which I read first. The other book takes off where this book ends and is titled, "Miracle Stem Cell Heart Repair". But first things first. About this book.

This book is a little dated in the sense that it was published in 2002 and obviously the demand must have been good to require a second printing in 2003. So, it is nearly 3 years old, but rest assured that the information is quite uptodate and it is worth spending the few hours to go through the book.

The author, Christian Wilde is not a medical doctor but is well qualified to write on the subject since he is a sort of investigative journalist and when he had a problem with his own health, he did not just go by the doctor's prescriptions but investigated all the literature thoroughly and more importantly discussed with the leading researchers and cardiologists to ensure that his understanding is correct. The result is an outstanding and up-to-date book on the various risk factors that go to make up the problems in the field of heart health, resulting in Angina, Heart Attacks and Strokes. That the author and the editorial team did an exemplary job has been endorsed by the leading members of the medical fraternity. Thus you can safely use the information provided in this book to discuss with your own doctor (who is the final authority to help you with your health problems) in an intelligent and meaningful manner.

Christian covers all the important risk factors that may compromise the heart health including cholesterol, Hypertension, Diabetes, Smoking, Obesity, Fibrinogen, CRP, Homocysteine etc. You may be aware of some of them and may not be aware about some of them. This book is a handy reference guide.

I enjoyed reading the book and as some one deeply interested in holistic health, I was impressed by the information provided. I found the editing to be less than perfect at some places but fortunately, that doesn't impinge on the accuracy of information presented. The book has a good Glossary of Medical Terms to help us, references to the various research articles cited in the book and an Index.

I found the larger type font and the non-glare paper easy on the eyes. I would have preferred to see the book hardbound to withstand repeated use since I expect this book to be referred to often.

I strongly recommend that if you have any interest in heart health (either of your own, your spouse, parents or friends), you should buy this book and the companion book mentioned above by the same author.