Healing Heart, The

New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1983. BOOK: Spine, Boards Bumped; Light Shelf Rub to Boards; Slight Yellowing Due to Age. DUST JACKET: Moderately Creased; Lightly Chipped; Slight Yellowing Due to Age; In Archival Quality Jacket Cover. by the author of Anatomy of an Illness. SUB-TITLE: Antidotes to Panic and Helplessness. BOOK NUMBER: 9-83. ALSO KNOWN AS: Chapter One of this book was published in somewhat different form in the International Journal of Cardiology and is reprinted with permission. JACKET DESIGN BY: Edward P. Diehl. CONTENTS: Introduction by Bernard Lown, M.D.; I The Reckoning; II Second Time Around; III Counterattack; IV Reassessment; V Mind, Moods, and Machines; VI Spoof and Stress; VII Adventure in Regeneration; VIII Life Begins at 63; IX The Physician as Communicator; X Souls and Statistics; XI We Can Do; XII Consumerism Reaches Medicine; XIII The Basic Nature of Emotional Needs; XIV Changing Fashions in Disease; XV Increasing the Sense of Control; XVI Panic: The Ultimate Enemy; XVII Beyond Invalidism; Summary; Epilogue; Afterwords: By K. I. Shine, M.D.; By David S. Cannom, M.D.; By Omar Fareed, M.D.; By William M. Hitzig, M.D.; Bibliography. SYNOPSIS: Anatomy of an Illness, Norman Cousins's story of a recovery from a crippling illness, has helped thousands of persons to mobilize their healing resources. The illness described in that book was comparatively rare and the outcome was uncertain. In The Healing Heart, Norman Cousins deals with an illness that is the most common cause of death in the United States. More people die from heart attacks and heart disease than from any other malady. In this warm and richly human story, Cousins tells of his recent massive heart attack that occurred in December 1980. It is a dramatic account that highlights the importance of the patient's essential role in combating serious illness. It is also the story of a team healing effort, a "partnership" between a patient and his physician, working together to bring about recovery. But this book is much more than an account of a remarkable personal response to challenge. It addresses itself to the problem of panic and helplessness produced by any serious disease. In heart attacks, especially, panic can intensify the underlying problem by constricting the blood vessels, forcing a heart that is already in precarious condition to put forth extra effort in order to pump blood through the narrowed openings. Norman Cousins believes that antidotes to panic and helplessness are well within the reach of most people. He describes techniques developed at various medical centers for liberating patients from fears and forebodings that can in fact represent serious intensifying factors in disease. What makes this book so valuable and engrossing is that Norman Cousins's vantage point for writing about heart attacks is from within a medical school. Since 1978, Norman Cousins has been a member of the faculty of the School of Medicine at the University of California in Los Angeles. His special field of study has been the biochemistry of the emotions. He is especially interested in the way attitudes and emotions can bring on disease or improve the prospects of recovery. He writes about medical research, pointing to the human brain as an apothecary capable of writing elaborate prescriptions for the human body. In general, his experiences with the medical community form a large part of this book. Cousins also writes about the education of medical students and about opportunities for improved relationships between patients and physicians. The Healing Heart is an expanded version of a two-part series that appeared originally in the Journal of International Cardiology. Since joining the medical faculty at UCLA, Cousins has accepted an appointment to the Special Medical Advisory Board of the Veterans Administration hospitals. His articles have been a frequent feature of the Journal of the American Medical Association, and some have been adapted for the purposes of this book. Norman Cousins is the author of sixteen books, including Anatomy of an Illness and Human Options. For more than a quarter-century he was editor of Saturday Review, which expanded in readership from 15,000 to 650,000 during his tenure and became a leading American weekly of ideas and the arts. AWARDS: A Book-of-the-Month Club Dual Main Selection.. First Edition 1st Printing. Hard Cover. Fine/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.