Living Well with Heart Failure, the Misnamed, Misunderstood Condition

Table of Contents

Part I. The Causes and Diagnosis of Heart Failure

1. What is This Thing Called Heart Failure? 9
2. Coronary Artery Disease: The Major Cause of Heart Failure 24
3. Cardiomyopathy: A Leading Cause of Heart Failure 37
4. Diagnosing Heart Failure and its Causes 46

Part II Treatments for Heart Failure

5. Drug Treatments 65
6. Conversations of the Heart: Arrhythmias and Pacemakers 83
7. Straight Talk About Sudden Death: Should I Get an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator? 98
8. Surgical Treatments 109
9. Device Treatments for the Critically Ill 117
10. Getting a New Heart 124
11. Future Therapies 139

Part III. The Challenges of Living with Heart Failure

12. Nutrition and Heart Failure, by Samantha Heller 151
13. Exercise: How Much and What Kind? 175
14. The Patient-Doctor Therapeutic Relationship 188
15. What You Need to Know About the Hospital 200
16. Heart Failure in Elderly People 214
17. What You Can Do for Yourself 218
18. Where to Find More Information 225

Epilogue 231

Appreciation 233

Appendix: Trade Names and Generic Names of Drugs 235

Notes on Sources 241

Index 267