The story of writing this book is long and arduous. This is like the fulfillment of a lifelong dream! This book shall contribute not only towards awareness of heart problems but also give an update on working up of different diseases of heart and available modalities of treatment. I hope and pray that this humble effort helps in the prevention of deadly heart problems in our population. Many of these articles have been previously published in newspapers and other journals as a part of ‘public awareness’.
This is an attempt to demystify the heart and present it in its ‘natural attire’ like a ‘mere pump’. The emphasis has been to present the facts in a palatable form. The goal is to share the latest research with our ‘end users’ so as to enhance their participation in the treatment and more so in the prevention of deadly heart problems.With under-standing of the subject, hopefully, we will have more enlightened and enthusiastic patients who can make more ‘informed’ decisions. Certain topics are included for the ‘advanced learners’ and therefore more medical data in its basic form is being given with more liberal usage of medical terms.
It has four chapters:
‘The heart of the heart‘ is about us doctors and our patients. It contains some revelations about the attitude of patients, tendering of history, asking questions, offering unsolicited advice and some very stark realities of life which have no answers.
‘Ways to heart’ is an illustrated introduction which opens doors of information about the mysteries of heart. Here the focus is on different investigational tools which are commonly used in our clinical practice and the information they are suppose to offer. It deals with ECG, Exercise testing, Ambulatory blood pressure recording, CT angiography, Coronary angiography, and nuclear tests.Â
‘Meet the villains‘ introduces the causes which conspire against the body in causing heart problems. Every risk factor is assessed and its contribution is discussed to put things in true perspective. Important topics like smoking, high blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes are dealt in depth. Newly emerging risk factors are discussed under the heading of novel risk factorS.
‘What ails the heart’ discusses almost all the important diseases of heart that a non-cardiologist should know. It throws light on causes, risk factors and presentation in an easily understandable format.
My dream had been to offer easy to understand answers to my patients’ queries in a written form – now I offer this book from the ‘core of my heart’ for them to ‘know their heart’ to unravel the mysteries of heart. I will deem it a success if people with ‘heart’ put in some effort in recognizing the ‘villains’ and be willing and knowing partners in ‘taming these enemies’ without resorting to ‘wires, balloons and springs’
