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Review
A Woman's Guide to Saving Her Own Life: The HEART Program for Health and Longevity
by Sandra Koopman-Bryant
It doesn't matter what age, race, class or size you are, A Woman's Guide to Saving Her Own Life is a must read. Author Mellanie True Hills
teaches us, through her own experience and calling upon current medical research, that even though heart disease is the #1 killer of women in the US, we can control our risk factors and possibly save our
lives.
Mellanie True Hills was a hard-charging consultant for a high-tech firm when she found herself in the airport experiencing shortness of breath
and an aching left shoulder. She saw her doctor and was sent to the Emergency Department with an abnormal EKG. She continued to answer business calls and plan her next trip from her hospital
bed, even as the cardiologist made arrangements for an invasive study to look at her heart vessels. When the doctor found a blockage in her heart and had difficulty placing a stent to open the
blockage, the author was stunned to learn how close she had been to death. Realizing she had to make significant changes in her life to prevent a heart attack or stroke, Hills conducted extensive
medical research and developed the HEART program for women, using herself as the first subject.
In her straightforward, easy-going narrative, Hills discusses changes she made in the areas of diet, exercise and stress management to control
her risk of heart attack. She then shares current medical research in an easy-to-understand manner to explain women-specific risks for heart attacks and strokes and the current recommendations for
reducing those risks and maintaining heart health. Throughout the book, Hills provides numerous websites to guide the reader to further information in specific areas.
Finally, Hills guides the reader through the process of creating one's own HEART program in a workbook format that evaluates risks (smoking,
diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol, family history, weight/shape, activity level and stress) and builds an action plan for risk reduction (diet, exercise, stress control, rest and taking control of
one's health issues.
Throughout the book, Hills shares her own journey to heart health with tips she developed along the way. Her "real woman" examples of
on-the-go diet strategies (she lost 85 pounds!) and stress control techniques are particularly helpful for women busy with careers and family. Here's a little secret: the title of this book may be A
Woman's Guide to Saving Her Own Life, but every man should read it too, since the program will work for either sex to be heart healthy!
Sandra Koopman-Bryant,RN,CCRN,JD has been a critical care nurse for more than twenty years. She has specialized in the care of cardiac and
neurosurgical patients, as well as trauma patients. She is currently a flight nurse and emergency department nurse in Seattle, Washington.
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