Congestive-Heart-Failure Books

This book is truly informative and helpful. Reading it has empowered me to take steps to be able to live with the frighteneing diagnosis of heart failure. The suggestions given are practical and helpful. By reading the book, I was able to find support groups on line--most helpful. I heartily (pun intended!) recommend it for anyone who has been diagnosed with heart failure.

I bought this for my wife who has postpartum cardiomyopathy so we could really understand what the cardiologist was saying and doing. Prior to reading it we had been concerned that our cardiologist wasn't engaging us in many "standard" heart failure treatments that we had researched which might improve her daily quality of life. This book really helped my wife and I understand all the CHF jargon and, most importantly, what the heart meds do and how they are supposed to work in the body. Because of this book and other research we have engaged another cardiologist for a second opinion and learned that there are indeed other treatments and therapies available to us. Net Net - this book helps you engage in knowledgeable conversations with your doctor which is key to your survival and successful treatment.
4 stars only because I wish the author had expounded more on some of the topics.

I have been researching several pieces of literature and books regarding CHF.
This book was my first choice. I was not disappointed. The book was in pristine
condition and it was exactly what I was looking for. I was extremely pleased.

We learned a lot of useful information about medications and treatments, and what was happening to my husband's body. It gave him some hope when he needed it.

This book is an excellent resource for those suffering from heart failure or families trying to understand this disease. I highly recommend it for a resource if not reading it in its entirity. Chapter 11 on foods and salt intake is especially helpful if one has the determination to follow good advice! Success With Heart Failure: Help and Hope for Those Coping With Congestive Heart FailureThe book is so inexpensive that seems foolish not to buy it as a resource!

If you want to go deeper in your understanding of how Bi-V pacer works, how to adjust its setting (including the use of echo to optimize timing), and how to put that wire in tough coronary sinus anatomy: you will be glad you get this book...or get a rep to buy it for you. Before you read this book, you should know the basic of pacemaker programming, because it is not really for beginner (read Hayes Cardiac Pacing and Defibrillation first). Very well written, and worth every penny.

Table of Contents:

*Epidemiology, Etiology, and Natural History - David McCall
*Functional Properties of Normal and Failing Hearts - W. Gaasch & G. Freeman
*Baroreflexes in Heart Failure - Toru Kinugawa & Marc Thames
*Biochemical Abnormalities in Failing Heart - Joel Karliner
*The Molecular Basis for Hypertrophic Growth of the Adult Heart - D. Mann & Robert Roberts
*Neurohumoral Mechanisms in Heart Failure - G.S. Francis & Kenneth McDonald
*Cardiovascular Tissue Angiotensin Systems: Activation and Actions in Heart Failure - A.T. Hirsch, M. Muellerleile, & V. Dzau
*The Kidney and Heart Failure - G. Paradiso, G. Bakris, J. Stein
*Evaluation of Left Ventricular Performance in Heart Failure - R. Applegate, T. Downes, W.C. Little
*Exercise and Exercise Testing in Congestive Heart Failure - Louis Dell'Italia
*Clinical Features, General Therapeutic Measures and Diuretics - D. McCall
*Digitalis in Heart Failure - Shahbudin Rahimtoola & Tahir Tak
*Newer Inotropic Agents - C.V. Leieur & P. Binkley
*The Role of Vasodilator Therapy, Other than Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibition, in the Management of Chronic Congestive Heart Failure - J. Franciosa & R. McGarry
*Treatment of Congestive Heart Failure with Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors - M. Creager & J. Cusco
*Role of B-Adrenergic Blockers for the treatment of Congestive Heart Failure - E. Eichhorn
*Ventricular Arrhythmias and Sudden Death in the Congestive Heart Failure - Simon Chakko & Robert Myerburg
*Surgical Options for the Treatment of Cardiac Failure - Shukri F. Khuri, Patricia A. Lowry, & Nancy A. Healey
*The Role of Cardiac Transplantation - Lynne Warner Stevenson

This is a unique book, it focuses on heart failure and is very accurately described by it's title. I found it to be surprisingly easy to read. The strength of this book is that it does a good job integrating background info on normal cardiac physiology and molecular biology with the alterations that occur during heart failure. The author often employs a philosphical approach with many quotes from philosophy and theater that are meant to give the reader "something to chew on" before embarking on the chapter at hand. Some may find this approach distracting, however I personally found it refreshing. The book does a good job covering the important basic aspects of heart failure; classifications, cardiac physiology, E-C coupling, signal transduction, etc. Best of all the book is actually in a user friendly size, about 6" x 10", about 1 pound, and 380 pages, so it may be carried around with relative ease. Bottom line is that this will serve as a good guide to understand the basic principles of heart failure and provides an avenue integrate molecular biology with cardiac pathophysiology. It doesn't have all the details, but will prepare you to seek out the info that you need in an intelligent fashion from medical databases.

Kissed by Death is a self help book based on the authors own story and illness. The book addresses the technical aspects of CHF; causes, symptoms, diagnosis and medications. It talks about simple aerobic and resistance weight training exercises to strengthen the body including the heart. It focuses on fat in the diet, foods, reading ingredient labels, low sodium diets and building sodium databases. The second half of the book deals with the Mediterranean diet and profiles the author's own low-sodium, good-carbs, Mediterranean Style Eating Plan, a version of the Mediterranean diet which has been essential to the success of his recovery.

i read the review in the nejm and i agree completely. this is a must for all cardiologists. why is it out of print?

This cookbook has great recipes in it. I have used it 6 times in the 2 weeks I have had the book. I even canned the tomato soup and have soup for about 12 more meals. Great cookbook.

I love this book. Having been diagnosed with Migraine Equivalent Meniere's. I was floundering around to find "proven" recipes for low salt way of life. I bought this book along with others. The others were not near as easy to use, read and understand. Since using this book I have never felt deprived because of my low salt diet restrictions. The recipes make mealtime a joy again.

Every cooking school should have this book as part of their curriculum. As the nation grows older more people will become aware that low salt is actually the healthiest way to live. It will also help reduce health care costs. Mr. Gazzaniga may have found the "exilir" to long and productive life.

I tried this book when I was told I had to cut back on salt. This book helped me see that a simple change in eating habits wasn't all that bad. I started to truly appreciate the real taste of food with the new recipes. Also, I was surprised to find things that were salty that I thought shouldn't be.

This book has changed my life. I was 29 (3 years ago) when I bought it hoping to reduce my sodium intake in an effort to lower my blood pressure. Exercise was not working and my doc wanted to put me on medication. After a year of hard work, I went from 140/95 to 120/75 and I owe most of it to the philosophy of this book. I don't necassarily agree with many other reviews that this is the "end all" cookbook. Many recipes are good and simple to cook however many are bland and leave me with no desire to try them again. More importantly, this book acted as a guide for me to essentially start over in the kitchen. It took me a good 2-3 months of trial and error with the recipes in this book to develop food with the flavor my wife and I desire. Now I prepare my own salad dressings, pizzas, bread, marinades, spaghetti sauce, etc. In every case, I love the food far more now than the original sodium laden store bought stuff I used to use. Now that I am making all this food myself, I have lost about 20 pounds and my wife and I are in much better shape. Everyone could stand to lose a ton of sodium from their diet - this book is the place to start!!!

I bought this with high expectations but have rarely used it. It has plenty of bread recipes but when it comes to comfort style, downhome food,,,,I just can't find the ones that suit me or my family...we are not into the types of food you get at a heath food store or any of those special grain type things like hummas, tofu,,etc...since he is very concerned about low fat,,,he puts applesauce instead of oil, and it has me trying to figure out how to put oil back in. If you are from the South,,these yankee type foods will not make you happy...compotes, etc. There could be a much better cookbook written for the Southern taste...if you are not from the West or the South,,,you will probably like the food. There are also, a lot of errors in it..which you have to go to his website to make corrections in your book...too much trouble for me...I want a book I can trust...

I am a 3rd semester nursing student and I really found this book helpful. I was tired of reading my stale textbook so I read this book. It covered every aspect you need to know on the physiology of heart failure, assessment findings, treatment; it had quick quizzes, and many great animations. I recommend this book to all nursing students studying heart failure.

This easy-to-read pocketguide is well written and visually appealing - making it a good quick read and effective reference tool. From drug charts and quick quizzes to patient exam techniques and recognizing heart failure complications this book covers the bases. I appreciated the section on "getting connected" that directed me to some good heart failure websites for professionals and for patients.

I am a Registered Nurse working with a Cardiologist seeing CHF patients in a Heart Failure Clinic. The book is short and to the point. It covers the basics of CHF: Causes, Medical Management, Symptoms, Medications, Diet, Fluid Limitation, Daily Weight,& Exercise. The illustrations are easy to understand, as are the verbal explanations. The book could benefit from an update, since the treatments and understanding of this illness are changing rapidly. I must strongly recommend it because of all the materials I have available, patients and family members prefer this book. They all say that they gained a new understanding after reading the book, even though many have been in treatment for months and years.

I think it is an excellent book but the same content could 've been done in a shorter and a smaller book.
Highly recommended but I wish we can get a pocklet for this book.