eBook - ePub
The Heart Healers
The Misfits, Mavericks, and Rebels Who Created the Greatest Medical Breakthrough of Our Lives
- 401 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
The Heart Healers
The Misfits, Mavericks, and Rebels Who Created the Greatest Medical Breakthrough of Our Lives
About this book
From a renowned surgeon, "a stunning survey of cardiology's 'Golden Age' and the 'misfits' who made it so . . . a book of marvels" (
Publishers Weekly, starred review).
By the middle of the twentieth century, heart disease was killing millions and, as with the Black Death centuries before, physicians stood helpless. Visionaries, though, had begun to make strides decades earlier, daring to defy the medical wisdom of their day.
On Sept. 7, 1895, Ludwig Rehn successfully sutured the heart of a living man with a knife wound to the chest for the first time. Once it was deemed possible to perform surgery on the heart, others followed. In 1929, Dr. Werner Forssman inserted a cardiac catheter in his own arm and forced the x-ray technician on duty to take a photo as he successfully threaded it down the vein into his own heart . . . and lived. On June 6, 1944—D-Day—another momentous event occurred far from the Normandy beaches: Dr. Dwight Harken sutured the shrapnel-injured heart of a young soldier, saving his life, and the term "cardiac surgeon" born.
In The Heart Healers, world-renowned cardiac surgeon Dr. James Forrester tells the story of these rebels and the risks they took with their own lives and the lives of others to heal the most elemental of human organs. The result is a compelling chronicle of a disease and its cure, a disease that is still with us—but that is slowly being conquered by healers.
"Forrester brings history to life and explains complex procedures for lay readers in this excellent book." — Library Journal (starred review)
"One of the great medical storytellers of our era." —Eric Topol, cardiologist and author of Deep Medicine
By the middle of the twentieth century, heart disease was killing millions and, as with the Black Death centuries before, physicians stood helpless. Visionaries, though, had begun to make strides decades earlier, daring to defy the medical wisdom of their day.
On Sept. 7, 1895, Ludwig Rehn successfully sutured the heart of a living man with a knife wound to the chest for the first time. Once it was deemed possible to perform surgery on the heart, others followed. In 1929, Dr. Werner Forssman inserted a cardiac catheter in his own arm and forced the x-ray technician on duty to take a photo as he successfully threaded it down the vein into his own heart . . . and lived. On June 6, 1944—D-Day—another momentous event occurred far from the Normandy beaches: Dr. Dwight Harken sutured the shrapnel-injured heart of a young soldier, saving his life, and the term "cardiac surgeon" born.
In The Heart Healers, world-renowned cardiac surgeon Dr. James Forrester tells the story of these rebels and the risks they took with their own lives and the lives of others to heal the most elemental of human organs. The result is a compelling chronicle of a disease and its cure, a disease that is still with us—but that is slowly being conquered by healers.
"Forrester brings history to life and explains complex procedures for lay readers in this excellent book." — Library Journal (starred review)
"One of the great medical storytellers of our era." —Eric Topol, cardiologist and author of Deep Medicine
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
No, books cannot be downloaded as external files, such as PDFs, for use outside of Perlego. However, you can download books within the Perlego app for offline reading on mobile or tablet. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
- Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
- Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access The Heart Healers by James Forrester in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Medicine & Cardiology. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Notice
- Dedication
- Author’s Note
- Prologue
- Part I: Escape from the Dark Ages
- Part II: The Industrial Revolution
- Part III: The Past Creates the Present
- Part IV: How to Conquer Coronary Artery Disease
- Notes
- Glossary
- Index
- Acknowledgments
- Photos
- About the Author
- Newsletter Sign-up
- Contents
- Copyright