The Knifes Edge The Heart And Mind Of A Cardiac Surgeon

Download or read book The Knife’s Edge: The Heart and Mind of a Cardiac Surgeon written by Stephen Westaby and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2019-04-04 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2019 An intimate and compelling exploration into the unique psyche of the heart surgeon, by one of the profession’s most eminent figures.

Download or read book Open Heart written by Stephen Westaby and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2017-06-20 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In gripping prose, one of the world's leading cardiac surgeons lays bare both the wonder and the horror of a life spent a heartbeat away from death When Stephen Westaby witnessed a patient die on the table during open-heart surgery for the first time, he was struck by the quiet, determined way the surgeons walked away. As he soon understood, this detachment is a crucial survival strategy in a profession where death is only a heartbeat away. In Open Heart, Westaby reflects on over 11,000 surgeries, showing us why the procedures have never become routine and will never be. With astonishing compassion, he recounts harrowing and sometimes hopeful stories from his operating room: we meet a pulseless man who lives with an electric heart pump, an expecting mother who refuses surgery unless the doctors let her pregnancy reach full term, and a baby who gets a heart transplant-only to die once it's in place. For readers of Atul Gawande's Being Mortal and of Henry Marsh's Do No Harm, Open Heart offers a soul-baring account of a life spent in constant confrontation with death.

Download or read book The Knife's Edge written by Stephen Westaby and published by . This book was released on 2019-04 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An intimate and compelling exploration into the unique psyche of the heart surgeon, by one of the profession's most eminent figures. Although Professor Stephen Westaby was born with the necessary coordination and manual dexterity, it was a head trauma sustained during university that gifted him the qualities of an exceptional heart surgeon: qualities that are frequently associated with psychopathy. His thirty-five-year career has been characterised by fearlessness and ruthless ambition; leaving empathy at the hospital door as thousands of patients put their lives in his hands. For heart surgeons, the inevitable cost of failure is death and in The Knife's Edge, Westaby reflects on the unique mindset of those who are drawn to this exhilarating and often tragic profession. We discover the pioneers who grasped opportunities and took chances to drive innovation and save lives. Often difficult, uninhibited and fearless, theirs is a field constantly threatened by the risk of public failure. Like those before him, Westaby refuses to draw the line in his search of a lifetime solution to problems of the heart. His determination is unerring - a steadfastness underpinned by his unusual mind. But as we glimpse into the future of cardiac surgery, for all its remarkable scientific advancement, one question remains: within the confines of socialised medical healthcare systems, how can heart surgeons - individuals often hardwired with avoidance of self-doubt, a penchant for glory and a flagrant disregard for authority - truly flourish?

Download or read book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease written by Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr. M.D. and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2008-01-31 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New York Times bestselling guide to the lifesaving diet that can both prevent and help reverse the effects of heart disease Based on the groundbreaking results of his twenty-year nutritional study, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn illustrates that a plant-based, oil-free diet can not only prevent the progression of heart disease but can also reverse its effects. Dr. Esselstyn is an internationally known surgeon, researcher and former clinician at the Cleveland Clinic and a featured expert in the acclaimed documentary Forks Over Knives. Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease has helped thousands across the country, and is the book behind Bill Clinton’s life-changing vegan diet. The proof lies in the incredible outcomes for patients who have followed Dr. Esselstyn's program, including a number of patients in his original study who had been told by their cardiologists that they had less than a year to live. Within months of starting the program, all Dr. Esselstyn’s patients began to improve dramatically, and twenty years later, they remain free of symptoms. Complete with more than 150 delicious recipes perfect for a plant-based diet, the national bestseller Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease explains the science behind the simple plan that has drastically changed the lives of heart disease patients forever. It will empower readers and give them the tools to take control of their heart health.

Download or read book Complications written by Atul Gawande and published by Metropolitan Books. This book was released on 2003-04-01 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A brilliant and courageous doctor reveals, in gripping accounts of true cases, the power and limits of modern medicine. Sometimes in medicine the only way to know what is truly going on in a patient is to operate, to look inside with one's own eyes. This book is exploratory surgery on medicine itself, laying bare a science not in its idealized form but as it actually is -- complicated, perplexing, and profoundly human. Atul Gawande offers an unflinching view from the scalpel's edge, where science is ambiguous, information is limited, the stakes are high, yet decisions must be made. In dramatic and revealing stories of patients and doctors, he explores how deadly mistakes occur and why good surgeons go bad. He also shows us what happens when medicine comes up against the inexplicable: an architect with incapacitating back pain for which there is no physical cause; a young woman with nausea that won't go away; a television newscaster whose blushing is so severe that she cannot do her job. Gawande offers a richly detailed portrait of the people and the science, even as he tackles the paradoxes and imperfections inherent in caring for human lives. At once tough-minded and humane, Complications is a new kind of medical writing, nuanced and lucid, unafraid to confront the conflicts and uncertainties that lie at the heart of modern medicine, yet always alive to the possibilities of wisdom in this extraordinary endeavor. Complications is a 2002 National Book Award Finalist for Nonfiction.

Download or read book Mortal Lessons written by Richard Selzer and published by HMH. This book was released on 1996-04-15 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A surgeon shares true stories of life, death, and the human body in an essay collection that “will nail you to your chair” (Saturday Review). With settings ranging from the operating theater to a Korean ambulance, and topics as varied as the disposition of a corpse and the author’s own childhood, these nineteen captivating, wry, and intimate vignettes offer a poignant examination of health, humanity, and, of course, mortality. Sometimes tragic, sometimes humorous, the essays offer a physician’s viewpoint that goes beyond the medical to also consider the most meaningful issues and questions we face, whether as doctors or patients, cared for or caregiver. Praised by Kirkus Reviews as “an impressive display of knowledge and art, magic and mystery,” Mortal Lessons is a classic reflection on the human body and the human experience, and will resonate with readers for generations to come.

Download or read book Tiger Troubles: A Bloomsbury Young Reader written by Chitra Soundar and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-06-11 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Book Band: White (Ideal for ages 6+) An energetic animal story, ideal for children practising their reading at home or in school. All Sloth Bear wants to do is play with Porcupine but it's nap time in the jungle and all the other animals are sleeping. So she throws a guava at Porcupine's tree to wake him up and SPLAT! THUD! BUMP! Little Tiger gets woken up too! And Little Tiger is rather hungry... This funny story set in the Indian jungle from storyteller Chitra Soundar is perfect for children who are learning to read by themselves and for Key Stage 1. It features illustrations from Hannah Marks and appealing characters young readers will find hard to resist. _______________ Bloomsbury Young Readers are the perfect way to get children reading, with book-banded stories by brilliant authors like Julia Donaldson. The series is ideal for both home and school, with gorgeous colour illustrations, tips for parents, and fun activity ideas. Online guided reading and teaching notes, written by the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE), are available at bloomsburyreaders.com. 'Every child needs a Bloomsbury Young Reader. Fun, stretching, just the right length, full of adventurous vocabulary and punctuation.' - Julie-Ann McCulloch, Teacher