A Woman's Guide to Living with Heart Disease

Carolyn Thomas, Martha Gulati

• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781421424217
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Diseases & Allergies

The daily challenges of living—and coping—with a chronic and progressive invisible illness.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women worldwide. Yet most people are still unaware that heart disease is not just a man's problem. Carolyn Thomas, a heart attack survivor herself, is on a mission to educate women about their heart health. Based on her popular Heart Sisters blog, which has attracted more than 10 million views from readers in 190 countries, A Woman's Guide to Living with Heart Disease combines personal experience and medical knowledge to help women learn how to understand and manage a catastrophic diagnosis.

In A Woman's Guide to Living with Heart Disease, Thomas explains

• how to recognize the early signs of a heart attack
• why women often delay seeking treatment—and how to overcome that impulse
• the link between pregnancy complications and future heart disease
• why so many women with heart disease are misdiagnosed—and how to help yourself get an accurate diagnosis
• the importance of cardiac rehabilitation in lowering mortality risk
• what to expect during your recovery from a heart attack
• how the surreal process of coping with heart disease may affect your daily life
• methods for treating heart disease–related depression without drugs

Equal parts memoir about a misdiagnosed heart attack, guide to the predictable stages of heart disease—from grief to resilience—and patient-friendly translation of important science-based findings on women's unique heart issues, this book is an essential read. Whether you're a freshly diagnosed patient, a woman who's been living with heart disease for years, or a practitioner who cares about women's health, A Woman's Guide to Living with Heart Disease will help you feel less alone and advocate for better health care.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword, by Martha Gulati, MD, FACC
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1. The First Signs
• 2. Deadly Delay
• 3. Finally, a Correct Diagnosis
• 4. The New Country Called Heart Disease
• 5. Depressing News about Depression and Heart Disease
• 6. I’m What a Person with an Invisible Illness Looks Like
• 7. One-Downmanship: You Think You Have Pain?
• 8. On Being a Good Patient
• 9. The New Normal
• 10. Making Peace with an Errant Organ
• Recommended Resources
• Notes
• Glossary
• Index