From Publishers Weekly
Although heart disease is the leading cause of death in women past menopause, notes Kra, who teaches at the Yale School of Medicine, diagnostic tests are less frequently given to women than to men and heart disease in women often goes undetected until it reaches advanced stages. He advises women to become their own advocates; this includes understanding how their symptoms of heart disease (and their risk factors) may differ from men's. Part I comprises a discussion of different heart diseases and includes considerations of varicose veins, aneurisms and other vascular conditions, briefly addressing medications and treatment options. Preventive measures, including exercise, HRT (hormone replacement therapy) and surgery, are examined somewhat unevenly in Part II. With a fairly terse text relieved by anecdotes from his practice, Kra's approach succeeds best as a warning call about women's vulnerability and an introduction to the subject. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Heart disease is the number-one killer of women in the U.S. Cardiologist Kra discusses the rapid growth of this illness, which is particularly prevalent in postmenopausal women, and also its symptoms in women, which often differ from those in men. Particular chapters treat such topics as the diagnosis and treatment of heart attacks, mitral valve prolapse, palpitations, vascular disease, and varicose veins; and, in the book's second part, topics in prevention and treatment, including diet and medication, hormone replacement therapy, exercise, smoking cessation, and surgical intervention. Of particular interest is Kra's four-week program to quit smoking, "the major cause of early death from heart disease, lung cancer, and cancer of the bladder." Since losing weight can make a life-or-death difference for some of the 30 percent of Americans who are overweight, the diet Kra suggests aims to lower blood cholesterol; also useful to dietary ends are the appended tables listing the calorie, sodium, and cholesterol contents of many foods.
Whitney Scott
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.