Recognizing and Surviving Heart Attacks and Strokes ─ Lifesaving Advice You Need Now

More than three out of five deaths from heart attack occur simply because people don’t immediately go to the hospital, waiting instead to see if symptoms persist. Many of these deaths could be prevented if people knew the early warning signs of heart attack and realized the critical importance of responding immediately. Now a pioneer of modern cardiology draws on fifty years of patient care to explain that the majority of heart attacks don’t just happen spontaneously but are preceded by early warning signs—including little-known signs that go unrecognized by most people. Based on Missouri’s Early Warning Signs of Heart Attack Public and Professional Education Program—the only such effort to successfully speed patient arrivals at emergency rooms for treatment—Recognizing and Surviving Heart Attacks and Strokes offers practical advice that can save lives when time is of the essence. Dr. Glenn Turner’s message is simple: learn all of the early warning signs, and if you’re experiencing any of them, go to the emergency room immediately. If people would get proper treatment within the first sixty minutes of symptoms (“the Golden Hour”), he affirms, they should suffer little or no damage to heart muscle. Written clearly for lay readers of all levels, Recognizing and Surviving Heart Attacks and Strokes provides vital information from the Missouri Heart Program to readers nationwide and also presents the early warning signs of stroke and instructions on how to respond. Dr. Turner teaches readers not only to recognize symptoms but also about the best treatments available—including an analysis of the effectiveness of thrombolysis and angioplasty for heart attacks. He also reveals what people can do to help prevent the occurrence or recurrence of heart attack and stroke, and he stresses preventative care, urging readers to know more about the tests that can provide their doctors with important clues to their health. Despite the success of the Missouri Heart Program, there has never been a national public education program about the early warning signs of heart attack and stroke. Recognizing and Surviving Heart Attacks and Strokes addresses that need—and, if heeded, is a book that can save lives as it points the way toward better heart health overall.