What Every Woman Must Know about Heart Disease: A No-Nonsense Approach to Diagnosing, Treating, and Preventing the #1 Killer of Women

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. (Mar.)