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Handbook of cardiology for nurses
Book
Reviews
RADIOISOTOPE IN DER HERZDIAGNOSTIK. Jena, 1958, Gustav Fischer Verlag,
By Hans 62 illustrations,
Ludes, M.D., and Gerhard 15 tables, 107 pages.
Lehnert,
M.D.,
In their foreword, the authors raise the question as to whether a monograph in so recent a While field as the application of isotopes in the diagnosis of heart disease might not be premature. many of the applications are still in the experimental phase, this compact volume is timely and presents a well-written introduction to and review of this fast-developing and promising area. One of the authors The book has been prepared on the basis of extensive experimental experience. has also visited the important laboratories of isotope research in cardiovascular diseases in the In spite of the small size of the volume, the review is quite comprehensive and United States. the results of the authors are well integrated with other information. In a short introduction the important question of technique, dosage, and radiation protection is discussed. The application of radioactive isotopes is divided into three basic phenomena: dilution (blood and cardiac volume), transport (partial cardiac and pulmonary circulation times), The and accumulation or clearance of isotope concentration in the heart (coronary circulation). various applications of isotopes are discussed after a brief historical review of other preceding The determination of coronary circulation is singled out by Knipping, in and existing methods. his foreword, as perhaps the mcst promising field for routine application in the near future. It is unavoidable that important progress has. been made since this volume went to press, This, however, does not detract from including developments at the authors’ own laboratory. the value of the book, which is an excellent basis for following up recent developments.
By Walter Modell, M.D., F.A.C.P., Associate Professor, HANDBOOK OF CARDIOLOGY FOR NURSES. Cornell University Medical College; Attending Physician, New York Veterans Administration Hospital; Associate Attending Physician, Bellevue Hospital; and Doris R. Schwartz, B.S., R.N., Assistant Professor, Cornell University-New York Hospital School of Nursing; Public Health Nursing Coordinator, Comprehensive Care and Teaching Program, The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. New York, 1958, Springer Publishing Company, Inc., 328 pages. This book is composed of two main sections: the first is a simplified text on cardiology for the nurse, and the second is on the nursing care of the cardiac patient. From the point of view of the reviewer, a physician who cares for patients with heart disease, the section on cardiology is good, containing the sort of information necessary for the nurse who assists in the care of the patient, and, in addition, information which will help the nurse to understand the physician’s One would like to see more purpose in carrying out various diagnostic and therapeutic measures. emphasis and encouragement directed toward the nurse in the use of her own powers of observation, for in many aspects of the care of the cardiac patient she has the best opportunity to 943
944
BOOK
Am. Heart J. June, 1959
REVIEWS
observe certain reactions and occurrences, especially transient ones. In the section on nursing care, all aspects of the care of cardiac patients are considered, including a chapter on the care of the patient undergoing cardiac surgery. Most physicians will like the admonition to spare the sick cardiac patient unnecessary observation and attention. A case history is used to illustrate how the nurse may function in the care of a family in which a responsible member is chronically ill with heart disease, and how she may make use of community resources in helping them. One wishes that the authors had attempted to combine their talents in certain chapters, especially those relating to the sick cardiac patient. Many nurses would appreciate a well-chosen list of references to the medical literature.
You
CAN INCREASE YOUR HEART-POWER. N. Y., 1958, Doubleday & Company,
By Peter J. Steincrohn, Inc., 381 pages.
M.D.,
F.A.C.P.,
Garden
City,
This volume, intended for the patient with real or imaginary heart disease, is more likely to confuse than to enlighten. The author in his introduction modestly states: “In this book you will read (and learn) about many facets of heart diseases. I shall show you how to conserve and increase your heart-power. Whatever your complaint, REAL heart disease or IMAGINARY heart trouble, I guarantee that you will come away with as great an understanding of your heart as you will ever want to have. Somewhere in this book you will find the solution to your own heart problem, present or future.” The egocentric, verbose tract that follows the introduction fails almost completely to fulfill the author’s guarantee. The central theme of the book is the notion that each of us in his lifetime (reckoned from the fourth week of gestation, when the heart begins to beat) has a total of about three and a half billion heartbeats allotted. When these are used up, life is necessarily at an end. It follows, although the author does not clearly say so, that longevity is directly related to pulse rate. He puts it this way: “If you are a spendthrift, if you carelessly throw away these precious beats as if their source were unending-you will run short of them much before you reach seventy. ” He adds a little later: “Whether you drive your heart at high speeds and recklessly is entirely up to you. That is why your heart’s in your own hands.” To the extent that the theme is doggedly followed throughout the book, the author is quite logical. He assures us that “You can learn the art of relaxation,” and that “exercise is bosh.” Fatigue is said to drain off heart-power. Even the weather is indicted as an enemy of thosd who spend their heart-beat bank balance unwisely. “I think,” we are told, “we should all take a daily peek at the barometer.” To this point, the author’s ramblings are largely harmless, except insofar as they may lead patients, and possibly physicians, to accept almost total inactivity as prophylactically desirable. His dicta on anticoagulants, in spite of his careful indication that they may be dangerous, are questionable. The patient is assured that when the drugs are used properly, I‘. there is little to lose and much to gain.” No mention of the extremely uncertain position of anticoagulants in cardiovascular therapy, and specifically in the treatment of myocardial infarction, is made. Similarly, the possibility that Dexedrine as used in the management of obesity may be hazardous is summarily dismissed. The end result of the chapter on obesity, which contains many sound recommendations, will almost certainly be to encourage patients to seek treatment of obesity Also on the debit side is the bland by means of drugs and to reject more tedious dietary methods. statement that “. many coronary patients might benefit from consultation with a qualified thoracic surgeon.” The reference is to operations designed to promote revascularization of the ischemic myocardium, none of which has achieved wide acceptance. The patient, one must suppose, should not be permitted to know that unanimity of professional opinion on such matters has not been reached. And many a modern devotee of enlightened physical diagnosis will cringe “As a diagnostic tool, most cardiologists would be lost without it [the ECG]. when he reads: If I have to choose between that and my stethoscope, I would put my stethoscope in cold storage without hesitation.” Finally, this poorly organized and frequently misleading discourse does not begin to meet its avowed purpose. One gets the impression that it was dictated at high speed without benefit of outline or notes, that such of its message as is acceptable could easily be put in one tenth of
Reviews
RADIOISOTOPE IN DER HERZDIAGNOSTIK. Jena, 1958, Gustav Fischer Verlag,
By Hans 62 illustrations,
Ludes, M.D., and Gerhard 15 tables, 107 pages.
Lehnert,
M.D.,
In their foreword, the authors raise the question as to whether a monograph in so recent a While field as the application of isotopes in the diagnosis of heart disease might not be premature. many of the applications are still in the experimental phase, this compact volume is timely and presents a well-written introduction to and review of this fast-developing and promising area. One of the authors The book has been prepared on the basis of extensive experimental experience. has also visited the important laboratories of isotope research in cardiovascular diseases in the In spite of the small size of the volume, the review is quite comprehensive and United States. the results of the authors are well integrated with other information. In a short introduction the important question of technique, dosage, and radiation protection is discussed. The application of radioactive isotopes is divided into three basic phenomena: dilution (blood and cardiac volume), transport (partial cardiac and pulmonary circulation times), The and accumulation or clearance of isotope concentration in the heart (coronary circulation). various applications of isotopes are discussed after a brief historical review of other preceding The determination of coronary circulation is singled out by Knipping, in and existing methods. his foreword, as perhaps the mcst promising field for routine application in the near future. It is unavoidable that important progress has. been made since this volume went to press, This, however, does not detract from including developments at the authors’ own laboratory. the value of the book, which is an excellent basis for following up recent developments.
By Walter Modell, M.D., F.A.C.P., Associate Professor, HANDBOOK OF CARDIOLOGY FOR NURSES. Cornell University Medical College; Attending Physician, New York Veterans Administration Hospital; Associate Attending Physician, Bellevue Hospital; and Doris R. Schwartz, B.S., R.N., Assistant Professor, Cornell University-New York Hospital School of Nursing; Public Health Nursing Coordinator, Comprehensive Care and Teaching Program, The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. New York, 1958, Springer Publishing Company, Inc., 328 pages. This book is composed of two main sections: the first is a simplified text on cardiology for the nurse, and the second is on the nursing care of the cardiac patient. From the point of view of the reviewer, a physician who cares for patients with heart disease, the section on cardiology is good, containing the sort of information necessary for the nurse who assists in the care of the patient, and, in addition, information which will help the nurse to understand the physician’s One would like to see more purpose in carrying out various diagnostic and therapeutic measures. emphasis and encouragement directed toward the nurse in the use of her own powers of observation, for in many aspects of the care of the cardiac patient she has the best opportunity to 943
944
BOOK
Am. Heart J. June, 1959
REVIEWS
observe certain reactions and occurrences, especially transient ones. In the section on nursing care, all aspects of the care of cardiac patients are considered, including a chapter on the care of the patient undergoing cardiac surgery. Most physicians will like the admonition to spare the sick cardiac patient unnecessary observation and attention. A case history is used to illustrate how the nurse may function in the care of a family in which a responsible member is chronically ill with heart disease, and how she may make use of community resources in helping them. One wishes that the authors had attempted to combine their talents in certain chapters, especially those relating to the sick cardiac patient. Many nurses would appreciate a well-chosen list of references to the medical literature.
You
CAN INCREASE YOUR HEART-POWER. N. Y., 1958, Doubleday & Company,
By Peter J. Steincrohn, Inc., 381 pages.
M.D.,
F.A.C.P.,
Garden
City,
This volume, intended for the patient with real or imaginary heart disease, is more likely to confuse than to enlighten. The author in his introduction modestly states: “In this book you will read (and learn) about many facets of heart diseases. I shall show you how to conserve and increase your heart-power. Whatever your complaint, REAL heart disease or IMAGINARY heart trouble, I guarantee that you will come away with as great an understanding of your heart as you will ever want to have. Somewhere in this book you will find the solution to your own heart problem, present or future.” The egocentric, verbose tract that follows the introduction fails almost completely to fulfill the author’s guarantee. The central theme of the book is the notion that each of us in his lifetime (reckoned from the fourth week of gestation, when the heart begins to beat) has a total of about three and a half billion heartbeats allotted. When these are used up, life is necessarily at an end. It follows, although the author does not clearly say so, that longevity is directly related to pulse rate. He puts it this way: “If you are a spendthrift, if you carelessly throw away these precious beats as if their source were unending-you will run short of them much before you reach seventy. ” He adds a little later: “Whether you drive your heart at high speeds and recklessly is entirely up to you. That is why your heart’s in your own hands.” To the extent that the theme is doggedly followed throughout the book, the author is quite logical. He assures us that “You can learn the art of relaxation,” and that “exercise is bosh.” Fatigue is said to drain off heart-power. Even the weather is indicted as an enemy of thosd who spend their heart-beat bank balance unwisely. “I think,” we are told, “we should all take a daily peek at the barometer.” To this point, the author’s ramblings are largely harmless, except insofar as they may lead patients, and possibly physicians, to accept almost total inactivity as prophylactically desirable. His dicta on anticoagulants, in spite of his careful indication that they may be dangerous, are questionable. The patient is assured that when the drugs are used properly, I‘. there is little to lose and much to gain.” No mention of the extremely uncertain position of anticoagulants in cardiovascular therapy, and specifically in the treatment of myocardial infarction, is made. Similarly, the possibility that Dexedrine as used in the management of obesity may be hazardous is summarily dismissed. The end result of the chapter on obesity, which contains many sound recommendations, will almost certainly be to encourage patients to seek treatment of obesity Also on the debit side is the bland by means of drugs and to reject more tedious dietary methods. statement that “. many coronary patients might benefit from consultation with a qualified thoracic surgeon.” The reference is to operations designed to promote revascularization of the ischemic myocardium, none of which has achieved wide acceptance. The patient, one must suppose, should not be permitted to know that unanimity of professional opinion on such matters has not been reached. And many a modern devotee of enlightened physical diagnosis will cringe “As a diagnostic tool, most cardiologists would be lost without it [the ECG]. when he reads: If I have to choose between that and my stethoscope, I would put my stethoscope in cold storage without hesitation.” Finally, this poorly organized and frequently misleading discourse does not begin to meet its avowed purpose. One gets the impression that it was dictated at high speed without benefit of outline or notes, that such of its message as is acceptable could easily be put in one tenth of