New Book Takes on America's #1 Killer
Shows you how to treat your heart like you love it...

It's the hardest working muscle in the human body-your heart. Even when you're asleep, your heart is still hard at work, pumping blood through your body. So keeping our hearts in prime condition should be a top priority. Yet heart disease is taking a painful toll on millions of lives. According to the American Heart Association, an estimated 71 million American adults now suffer from heart disease, stroke and other forms of cardiovascular diseases. That number is projected to increase as the baby boomer generation ages.

"Heart disease is America's #1 killer," says renowned cardiologist and author Dr. Gerry Maddoux. "Contributing to the problem is the fact that most laypeople don't have a true understanding of how to keep their hearts healthy. After all, your heart didn't come with an instruction manual."

Until now. Dr. Maddoux's new book, Your Heart: Treat It Like You Love It is dedicated to helping people everywhere have healthier hearts. "This book is for everyone who has felt short of breath and worried, 'could it be my heart?'" says Dr. Maddoux. "It's for everyone who has sat anxiously by a loved one's hospital bed in the cardiac care unit and for everyone who has wondered how to help prevent heart disease. I don't want families to feel like they're in this alone; they need good, sound information."

Straightforward and easy to understand, Your Heart: Treat It Like You Love It, is like having a written tour guide to navigate the human heart and how to take the best care of it. Dr. Maddoux maps out the anatomy of the human heart and how it works to give readers a much-deserved explanation of why they should eat healthy, watch their cholesterol and exercise. But that's just the beginning.

Your Heart: Treat It Like You Love It devotes entire chapters to the various complications of the heart, including congestive heart failure, silent coronary artery disease, and high blood pressure. It also details the relationship between your emotional health and the health of your heart. Chapters in the book also tackle common questions such as what could be the cause of shortness of breath or dizziness. Readers will also learn critical information in the chapter that outlines tactics for handling cardiac emergencies at home until paramedics can arrive.

Because women can experience different symptoms of heart disease than men, Dr. Maddoux has dedicated a chapter to pointing out the distinctions. "One of the first things that I am struck with is that women with coronary artery disease are more likely than men to complain of fatigue," says Dr. Maddoux. "Women also give a different description of the pain and symptoms they feel during a heart attack and it's critical for women to understand those symptoms."

Your Heart: Treat It Like You Love It also decodes all the medical terminology surrounding the array of diagnostic tests designed to detect heart disease. The book outlines very clearly the benefits and possible risks of the different types of tests. "I tend to favor an electron beam tomogram or some other type of rapid CT scanning," says Dr. Maddoux. "It requires no IV, no injected drugs or substances and you get a tiny amount of radiation compared to other tests. It is a good screening test with no risks."

Dr. Maddoux points out five key reasons why people need to understand the significance of taking care of their hearts and getting any problems diagnosed:

* 1 of every 2 males and 1 of every 2.4 women are currently destined to die of cardiovascular disease

* One million American people currently have atrial fibrillation, an electrical disorder of the heart

* Five million Americans currently have congestive heart failure

* An estimated 30 million Americans currently have metabolic syndrome, a short-cut to cardiovascular disease and heart attack or stroke

* Medical schools cut back on training programs at just the time they should have enlarged them. Due to the burgeoning population with diabetes, we are facing a health care crisis in cardiac disease.

Dr. Maddoux was inspired to write the book after meeting a heart patient while on vacation overseas. "The gentleman had a rough day of traveling and was experiencing new symptoms and worried that his medications needed adjustments," says Maddoux. "After talking with him and some of his friends, they explained how they felt there was a great need for a book about the heart written in the form of a patient's advocacy manual."

With the aging of our nation and a limited number of cardiologists, Dr. Maddoux knew he needed to take action. "With the graying of America, the emergence of baby boomers added to our already tightly-stretched population of cardiologists, there is going to be no way to adequately become educated about your problem unless you read this material," says Dr. Maddoux. For everyone who wants to improve their own heart health or learn more about the heart problems affecting a loved one, Your Heart: Treat It Like You Love It will quickly become an indispensable reference book in your home.

For a review copy of Your Heart: Treat It Like You Love It by Gerry Maddoux, M.D. (Sea Script Company 2007; 468 pp. paperback, $30 price), or to interview the author, contact Rachel Damien at 727-443-7115, ext. 206 or email rachel@event-management.com. Please include your name, publication, and mailing address with your request.

Paperback: $30.00
ISBN #: 978-0-9785436-4-8 / 0-9785436-4-5
Available at: www.lovingyourheart.com or www.amazon.com

About the author:
Dr. Gerry Maddoux is a Board Certified Cardiologist; Fellow American College of Cardiology and the American College of Chest Physicians. He has been practicing cardiology for over 30 years.