The First Year Heart Disease or MS and Your Feelings

The First Year Heart Disease: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed

Author: Lawrence D Chilnick

Heart disease is the nation’s leading health crisis, affecting more than 25.6 million Americans and causing 650,000 deaths each year. A longtime health editor, Lawrence Chilnick was stunned when he suffered a heart attack at age 48-but assumed his medications would take care of the condition. They didn’t. Five years later, Chilnick needed a quadruple bypass. At that point, he set out to turn his life around by educating himself on all aspects of this life-threatening disease. Now, in this major addition to the bestselling The First Year® series (over 250,000 copies sold), Chilnick shares his story and expert, step-by-step advice for coping with heart conditions. With information on lowering cholesterol, losing weight, reducing stress, and related concerns from high blood pressure to diabetes, this guide is a must-have resource.

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments     vii
Foreword   Curtis M. Rimmerman, M.D., M.B.A., F.A.C.C.     xv
Introduction     xix
Day 1
Living: Pay Attention to the Red Flags     1
Learning: Life Catches Up to You: Risk Factors     9
Day 2
Living: What Is Heart Disease?     24
Learning: Heart Disease Is Not Limited to Coronary Artery Disease     36
Day 3
Living: Your Heart Is More Than a Pump     51
Learning: Understanding the Circulatory System     60
Day 4
Living: Choosing a Cardiologist     65
Learning: Getting a Second Opinion     76
Day 5
Living: How Do I Know I Have Heart Disease?     81
Learning: How to Survive a Heart Attack     89
Day 6
Living: Heart Attack Recovery     106
Learning: Recovery from Heart Bypass Surgery     119
Day 7
Living: What to Expect Emotionally     128
Learning: The Family Impact     138
First Week Milestones     147
Week 2
Living: Returning to Sex and Intimacy     149
Learning: ED Medications: Are They for You or Your Partner?     155
Week 3
Living: Women and Heart Disease     160
Learning: Pregnancy and Heart Disease     174
Week4
Living: Congenital and Acquired Heart Disease     178
Learning: Gaining a Global Perspective     185
First Month Milestones     193
Month 2
Living: Getting Control: Take Inventory     195
Learning: Getting Control: Making a Game Plan     203
Month 3
Living: Quitting Smoking     211
Learning: Lowering Your Cholesterol     223
Month 4
Living: Obesity     231
Learning: Losing Weight and Keeping It Off     238
Month 5
Living: Exercising the Right Way     255
Learning: Choosing the Right Equipment     262
Month 6
Living: Stressed Out!     268
Learning: Getting a Grip on Your Stress     273
Six Month Milestones     279
Month 7
Living: Alternative Medicine     281
Learning: What Alternative Treatments Can Help- or Hurt-My Heart?     290
Month 8
Living: Taking Your Heart Medication     296
Learning: Quick-Reference Medication Chart     303
Month 9
Living: Dining Out and Traveling     321
Learning: Living Alone     327
Month 10
Living: Keeping Your Costs in Check     333
Learning: Navigating the Health-Care System     337
Month 11
Living: Will I Need a Heart Transplant?     344
Learning: What's on the Horizon?     347
Month 12
Living: Healthy Cooking, Healthy Living     352
Learning: Organizations and Websites     362
Glossary     367
Bibliography     375
Index     381

See also: Zwischenbuchhaltung

MS and Your Feelings: Handling the Ups and Downs of Multiple Sclerosis

Author: Allison Shadday

MS and Your Feelings is the first book to specifically address the emotional pain caused by the unpredictable, disabling chronic inflammatory condition multiple sclerosis. Psychotherapist and MS patient Allison Shadday offers readers effective strategies for dealing with the psychological trauma of this disease. Shadday shares real-life MS success stories and gives insightful professional advice derived from years of counseling hundreds of chronically ill patients. Her book offers readers hope, inspiration and validation, teaching them how to come to terms with an MS diagnosis; strategies for identifying and managing stress triggers; ways to cope with fear, guilt, anger, loss, depression, and isolation; steps to enhance intimacy and develop a greater sense of emotional security; and more. Patient success stories illustrate the techniques described. Renowned neurologist and MS expert Dr. Stanley Cohan contributes discussions of the importance of treating MS's emotional symptoms, the latest medical thinking, and the promising future of drug research for this challenging condition.

James Swanton - Library Journal

Shadday, a medical clinical social worker with multiple sclerosis (MS), here contributes the first book on dealing with the emotional impact of MS, an autoimmune, degenerative disease of the brain and spinal cord that eventually causes major physical disability. Treatments focus on medications that reduce and slow the disease's progression. What Shadday offers is valuable, empowering advice for her fellow sufferers and their families on how to cope, understand, and overcome the adverse emotional and psychological impact of the disease. Included are effective strategies for dealing with fear and negative emotions, maintaining self-esteem, and prevailing over the disabling complications of MS. With its upbeat and practical advice, this book will find an eager audience in consumer health and patient libraries; highly recommended.