THE HEARTBOOK
As a cardiologist, my daily concern is treating patients. However, i have realized that this is not sufficient and that teaching how to prevent the initial onset of disease or any relapse has becom increasingly important. It is also for this reason that i founded the "Heart Friends Around the World" Association. The HEARTbook is a text on cardiology for laymen. It is the fruit of 20 years of heatlh aducation at the Cardiac Rehabilitation Centre in San Pellegrino Terme, Bergamo, Italy, which i run.
Over 15,000 patients, who suffered from heart attack or underwent bypass surgery, heeded the lesson. Now the time has come to gather my observations together. The HEARTbook consists of three sections: a short story, a number of low-cholesterol recipes taken from the Mediterranean Diet and a heart glossary, three essential elements in learning correct behaviour after the illness and how to prevent relapses.