Treating the Aching Heart: A Guide to Depression, Stress, and Heart Disease

by Lawson R. Wulsin MD

Overview

Why is depression bad for heart disease? And how does heart disease contribute to depression? And why is treatment for depressed people with heart disease so often inadequate? Through personal vignettes, accessible scientific explanations, and medical illustrations, Treating the Aching Heart traces the vicious cycle of depression and heart disease and points the way to better care based on cutting-edge science. The book presents a new view of depression as a broad-reaching illness with a distinct neurobiology that influences the most up-to-date model of heart disease. Treating the Aching Heart provides a window into the most studied mind-body problem, the interaction between the brain and the heart. Though many mysteries remain, in no other area is the relationship between a mental disorder and a physical disorder better understood than in the study of depression and heart disease. Anyone who has suffered from depression (about one in four U.S. adults) or some form of heart disease (also about one in four), or has a close family member with either problem, will find this book a useful guide to treatment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826515612
Publisher:	Vanderbilt University Press
Publication date:	07/18/2007
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Lawson R. Wulsin, MD, Professor of Psychiatry and Family Medicine at the University of Cincinnati, husband of a public health physician, and father of four sons, balances his work among patient care, teaching, research on psychosomatic medicine, and directing a residency training program in psychiatry and family medicine. He writes a weekly column, "Mind Matters," for the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Editorial Reviews

Clear, engaging, nicely researched, and authoritative, the book features anecdotes and touches of humor...Highly recommended
—Library Journal

Treating the Aching Heart should be read not only by physicians interested in the heart and brain, but by anyone with an interest in identifying ways to improve their quality of life while simultaneously reducing their risk for developing heart disease.
—Journal of the National Medical Association

An engaging book that may save your life.
—George Vaillant, MD, author of Aging Well

...offers a welcome addition to the literature on the mutual impact of body and mind in this look at how depression contributes to heart disease and vice versa. . . . Wulsin has effectively melded science with a popular approach to drive home the need for improved awareness and improved care for heart disease and depression and similarly connected diseases.
—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

Reviewer: Regina Rosa Lopez, MD (University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine)
Description: This book explores the complex dynamics between depression and heart disease, emphasizing the importance of a deeper understanding of this reciprocal relationship in order to improve treatment strategies and outcomes for both.
Purpose: The aim is to promote change in the way mental health clinicians and their medical collaborators communicate. These are worthy objectives given the fact that depression and heart disease influence one another and both diseases affect a large proportion of the population. The author stresses that a comprehensive treatment approach for both diseases and collaboration when both diseases are present should become a standard of care.
Audience: According to the author, the book is intended for patients who suffer from depression and/or heart disease, and their loved ones. The book would also be useful for clinicians who treat patients with one or both of these diseases. The author is a professor of psychiatry and family medicine who practices in both fields and does research on psychosomatic medicine.
Features: The book covers epidemiology, risk factors for both diseases, and the converging risks. It discusses the biology of depression and its psychological, social, and physical effects. The anatomical and physiological ties between the heart and the brain are covered, followed by the behavioral and biological links. A guide to treatment for depression and heart disease is also included. The book concludes with ways to improve the delivery of care to the population with both diagnoses. The book is easy to read and understand. The chapters contain clinical tips, which are tied together to form treatment strategies. The personal vignettes which make the book more personalized are clinically applicable. The appendixes, notes, and references provide details for additional readings/information. The shortcoming of this book is that it seems too simplistic for physicians who treat these diseases.
Assessment: This is a useful book because depression and heart disease are typically not discussed together nor viewed from the different standpoints. However, it may be more appropriate for patients. Because it is an easy read, physicians may be interested in reading it to get a general understanding of the link between two common diseases.

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