'Seven Steps to Stop a Heart Attack'
By Bob Arnot
Simon & Schuster, $25
Dr. Bob Arnot, formerly NBC's chief medical correspondent, is well-known in the medical and health professions, in part because he has written nine other medical books.
The "heart-attack" book was inspired by the unexpected death of his father — himself a distinguished physician — from a heart attack about a year ago, even though his cardiologist told him he "would never die of a heart attack."
Step One is to "know the enemies" — meaning fracture, inflammation and elevations of blood sugar. "The classic heart attack," writes Arnot, is "the sudden and precipitous fracture of a plaque in the coronary artery." The classic risk factors for that attack are smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol — but according to Arnot, a person can have normal cholesterol levels and still suffer a serious heart attack because of inflamed arteries.
Most important, Arnot stresses the need to recognize signs of a heart attack and then get rapid help, beginning with the call to 911. After that, he advises a call to your physician so that treatment can begin in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. — Dennis Lythgoe
'God Has a Dream'
By Desmond Tutu
Doubleday, $25.95
Desmond Tutu is the retired archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, the religious leader who received the Nobel Peace Prize and assisted Nelson Mandela in discovering the various atrocities that had occurred under the South African system of apartheid.
In this book he shares the spiritual message that has guided him throughout his life. Using characteristic humor, Tutu recommends cultivating the qualities of love, forgiveness, humility, generosity and courage.
Writing with eloquence, Tutu says, "Our God marvelously, miraculously cares about each and every one of us. The Bible has this incredible image of you, of me, of all of us, each one, held as something precious, fragile in the palms of God's hands. And that you and I exist only because God is forever blowing God's breath into our being. And so God says to you, 'I love you. You are precious in your fragility and your vulnerability. Your being is a gift. I breathe into you and hold you as something precious.'"
Tutu argues that God wants all people in his family. "The wonderful thing about family is that you are not expected to agree about everything under the sun. Show me a man and wife who have never disagreed and I will show you some accomplished fibbers. But those disagreements, pray God, do not usually destroy the unity of the family. And so it should be with God's family. We are not expected at all times to be unanimous or to have a consensus on every conceivable subject. What is needed is to respect one another's points of view." — Dennis Lythgoe
'After the Wall'
By Jana Hensel
Public Affairs, $24
On Nov. 9, 1989, Jana Hensel was 13 years old. It was the night the Berlin Wall fell. No one has ever tried to discern what that fall meant for Jana and her generation of East Germans — kids of the '70s who grew up under the shadow of communism.
Suddenly, everything they knew was gone. East Germany was swallowed by the West — and Jana and her friends could take advantage of designer clothes, Hollywood movies, supermarkets and magazines.
Their new model became the Western world with all its numerous products, styles and manners. They started learning English and moved to Berlin.
Now their haircuts appear Western, they drive the trendy cars — but they don't know who they are. As they look back on life in East Germany, they find things they miss. Today, there is more discomfort and uncertainty than joy in their new opportunities.
This frank discussion of the adjustment process is priceless. — Dennis Lythgoe