Another must-read for those facing open heart surgery: "A Woman's Heart Book" by the same authors. Sure helped me immensely before my operation.

This book was written by Doctor Pashkow and Charlotte Libov who is a journalist who underwent open heart surgery. I happened upon this book by accident while I was mentally preparing for open heart surgery myself. Ms. Libov provided some of the best advice I'd found. She explains in great depth many heart conditions and provides practical tips as well. This book greatly allayed my fears and answered a lot of questions. I read it from cover to cover twice and thanked my lucky stars that I'd found it. This is "must" reading for anyone facing this operation and his/her family.

The book is vey informative and interesting, but it made me wonder how much effort was TRULY put into the writing of this book when I kept seeing so many typographical errors. That alone was enough to give me a heart attack. If the authors didn't care enough about their book to proof-read it properly, then maybe they didn't care enough to do more extensive research.

I purchased the original version of this book in 1996 after being diagnosed with a heart defect. The book gave me the opportunity to truly understand what my problem was and gave me invaluable advice on what to expect before and after having open-heart surgery. The book is written with the reader in mind-- they do not assume you speak "medicalease."

One of the best parts of this book is that it discusses various types of heart issues, not just heart attacks. The area of heart attacks does get quite a bit of attention in the book, but the authors also cover birth defects and other heart related illnesses. I also found it very useful that they discuss heart concerns in various stages of a women's life, such as pregnancy and menopause.

In addition to explaining heart conditions in a clear and concise manner the book also gives you tips on how to deal with related issues such as doctors and insurance companies.

Since my surgery I have continued to use the book as a reference, and I have recommended it to many friends as well as my primary phsyican and cardiologist. I was delighted to see that the book had been updated and purchased the new version as soon as I saw it. I would recommend this book to any woman and to men that care about the women in their lives.

I picked up The Women's Heart Book - and kept going right through to the glossery. The material is well organized and the information accessible and useful. Often I come away from a health related book feeling both guilty and worried. After reading The Women's Heart Book I am encouraged that I can make healthy lifestyle choices for myself and communicate intelligently with doctors if I or my sister has to confront a heart condition. The book addresses women in a personal yet professional manner - respectful of individual differences yet clear about how to apply conclusions from current research on women and heart-related diseases. I will keep this book on my reference shelf, and I thank the authors for giving me this excellent guide.

In this second edition the authors provide a comprehensive and authoritative account of this important area. Major topics given appropriate weight, and the proofreading was carefully done. Unfortunately, while readers are introduced to many trees, a picture of the forest fails to emerge.

Many references are provided, but although the book bears a 1999 copyright, and the pace of research in this field is very rapid, the most recent refrerences seem to be from 1997. There is no glossary, the index is not as complete as it should be, and outlines and flow diagrams are underutilized.

In several of the most important chapters, those involving exercise, the authors move from one sort of patient (e.g. healthy patients at risk to those post myocardial infarction to those in heart failure) to another in a fashion which leaves the reader uncertain as to which problems are under discussion.

Despite the relatively high price, those who have a need for a text covering this material would no doubt be ready to pay for a third edition if it were better organized and with more timely references.