Author: Dr A K MukherjeePublisher: Vidharbha Medical Foundation, Nagpur
Pages: 378
Price: Rs 200
Eisha Sarkar
Posted on Mumbai Mirror on Friday, October 01, 2010 at 06:16:49 PM
Posted on Times Wellness on Monday, October 25, 2010
At a glance, Dr A K Mukherjee's One Heart to Live may be mistaken for a textbook for medical students. You turn to the back cover and you find the book is "intended as a quick learning tool for common man, medical students, physicians, pediatricians and cardiologists - who need quick and comprehensive information regarding the different aspects of heart diseases in human being."
Never mind the grammatical errors (and there are plenty), One Heart to Live is actually a handy guide for those who are at risk of heart disease. It starts with a description of the heart's anatomy and functions, moving on to the complications and risks associated with age, diet, lifestyle and habits. While a lot of information seems as commonplace as "Smoking is injurious to your health," Dr Mukherjee does well to write about what you should do in case of emergency such as a heart attack and what kind of treatments and processes you shall expect at the coronary care unit (CCU). About the CCU, he describes:
"Advantages of CCU: Continuous monitoring the ECG provides facility to detect and treat life threatening ventricular arrhythmias like ventricular fibrillation. Facilities are available in CCU to reduce the acute mortality, immediate treatment of complication such as heart failure or shocked condition requiring intubation, ventilation or cardiac pacing.
"Disadvantages of CCU:
- Fear due unnatural surroundings and high technology
- Fear due to death of other patient in CCU
- Fear may stimulate the sympathetic nervous system to cause arrythmias.
"How long to stay in the hospital?
A typical stay in the coronary care unit (CCU) will be two or three days for an uncompliated heart attack. If the heart attack has been ruled out, a stay in CCU may be only 24 hours. If complications occur, the stay in CCU can be extended to four to five days or even longer. Once you have been stabilised and acute events surrounding your heart attack have been treated, you will enter what most hospital call, "a step down unit". You will stay there for 4 to 6 days, while you complete your recovery, and begin your rehabilitation from the heart attack."
It is in descriptions like these where the book scores with the readers. Seldom, in this country, does the common man know what to expect in terms of procedures and processes at hospitals before actually getting to a hospital. One Heart to Live is a comprehensive text on the heart, its ills and its cures, tailored for an Indian reader.
Readers may find this book a little too technical. There are several instances in the book where the author has used a medical term without defining it for the layman. Overlook the shortcomings of language and prose and you have a fine book that can save you a heartache!
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