Heart & Cardiovascular Health

Cardiac events divide a life in two. There is the version before, in which the body was assumed to be reliable, and the version after, in which every unfamiliar sensation in the chest asks a question. The nineteen volumes on this shelf are written by people living in the second version, and they are unusually good on the psychological part that cardiac rehabilitation covers briefly if at all.

Writers describe the onset itself, often with the detail of people who have replayed it many times; the hospital days; the medication regime and its side effects; the first walk, the first flight of stairs, the first time they trusted themselves to exercise again. Partners appear throughout, because a heart attack happens to a household.

Where to start

After an infarction, most readers begin with fifty heart attack survival stories. For rhythm problems, fifty accounts of living with atrial fibrillation covers ablation, anticoagulation, and the daily uncertainty. If surgery is scheduled, fifty open-heart surgery accounts is the volume most often bought the week before an operation.

Companion reading and personal testimony only. Nothing here is medical advice, and cardiac decisions belong with your cardiology team.