James A. Pantano, M.D.
Living With Angina is 'A Cardiologist's Guide to Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, the Doctor/Patient Relationship, and How to Lead a Normal and Productive Life' despite having angina. This 200 page book, originally published by Harper & Row in 1990, was written by a practicing cardiologist with over 25 years experience. It has been professionally edited to make it clear, concise, and easily readable.
'Living With Angina is a very important addition to our knowledge of this important subject. Dr. James Pantano leaves the textbooks aside and talks directly to us. Read this book and thank me later.'
- Larry King, Mutual Broadcasting System, Nov. 8, 1989.
'To his credit, Dr. Pantano skillfully treads a delicate path between hope and reality, giving the pros and cons of each condition and outlining medical and surgical options. He tells it like it is, but with a compassion derived from exemplary training in cardiology, plus daily contact with anxious patients and their families.'
- Publishers Weekly, Jan 26, 1990.
'The importance of communicating effectively with your physician is the theme of the book. A brief course in cardiac anatomy is threaded throughout the book as the author, a cardiologist, explains what angina is, its causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and what the patient can do to lead a normal and relatively pain-free life.'
- Book Review, Milwaukee Journal, April 16, 1990.
'The success of books about coronary artery disease depends on the author's knack for explaining the issues clearly and accurately, using nontechnical language and analogies that a lay reader can easily understand. Dr. James Pantano succeeds on all counts.'
- The New MD Magazine, July 1990.
'How can one control the fear that must accompany any sudden chest pain? One good way is by educating ourselves about angina, and a good book might be Living With Angina by James A. Pantano, M.D. It dispenses medical information about angina in simple, easy to understand language.'
- Delaware Valley Magazine, June 1990.
'I have reviewed many medical books for this column, and there is one chapter of this book I feel probably is the single most important service the author does: You and Your Doctor. Decidedly written from the doctor's side of the fence, this small, but effective, chapter on a doctor/patient relationship should be read by ever person who ever visits a doctor.'
- Dennis Cole Hill, Columnist, Daytona Herald, 1991.
'Thank you for writing a book designed to be understood by the reader. I'm impressed and grateful.'
- A reader, Venice, Fla.
James A. Pantano, M.D. has been in the private practice of cardiology for almost 25 years. He is currently Director of the Noninvasive Cardiovascular Laboratory and Heart Station and the Director of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Center at the Lehigh Valley Medical Center in Allentown, Pa. Dr. Pantano is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at Hershey Medical Center and has studied with Dr. James V. Warren, Chief of Medicine at Ohio State University and Dr. Leonard Sherlis, Chief of Cardiology at The University of Maryland, early pioneers in the development of the field of cardiology. Dr. Pantano has published articles in the New England Journal of Medicine, Archives of Internal Medicine and the Journal of the American Heart Association.
This book was written to fill a void in the lay literature on heart disease. Entire shelves can be filled with people's notions of how to avoid coronary artery disease--programs for diet, exercise, vitamins, stress avoidance and proper care in choosing your ancestors. Equally available are volumes proposing how to get rid of coronary disease once you have it--diet, exercise, vitamins and chemicals, chelation therapy, lasers, balloon angioplasty and coronary bypass surgery, to name a few. I will try to span the middle ground and discuss simply how you can live comfortably with the symptoms of coronary artery disease, especially the pain of angina pectoris.
If you have angina, you have coronary artery disease. You no longer have to try to 'avoid' it with that daily jog to the bean sprout store. You are equally aware that no amount of vitamins, additives, special diets (even at one of those famed California diet ranches), intravenous infusions of this or that--or any doctor--can make it go away. You're faced with the simple alternatives of bypass surgery, coronary angioplasty, or just living with your angina with the aid of your doctor's advice and prescribed medications. The way you interact with your angina will in large part determine whether a medical program is successful.
Angina symptoms affect patients differently and are associated with different and sometimes unique individual problems, both physical and psychological. I am addressing angina as it exists in real people in the real world.
Extensive studies have defined the types of patients who can safely continue with medicines and those who should have corrective surgery. If your doctor has determined that you are not in a risk group that should consider surgery, there are many ways that you can assist in your own treatment to minimize the burden that angina or your medication places on your life-style. A basic knowledge of the symptoms and treatment of coronary artery disease and the effects of your medications will enable you to carry on relatively normal day-to-day activities.
In this book, I will try to give you a working knowledge of the anatomy of coronary circulation and the way atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, affects the normal delivery of blood to the heart muscle. I will discuss the symptoms you may be experiencing and how they relate to the way your heart and body respond to exercise and medication. I hope to describe a different approach to the interaction between you and your physician by teaching you how to better interact with your disease. I will try to put coronary bypass surgery into perspective and clarify what can be realistically achieved by this alternative. Angina need not control your life-style. You can be an active participant in the control of your angina and intelligently assist your physician in his attempts to minimize risk and symptoms.
You will find this book full of details because in treating angina, it's the details that count. Precise dosage of a medication is almost as important as which medication is initially chosen. The result can be the difference between having some symptoms or no symptoms and that is no small difference. Proper timing of treadmill testing, cardiac catheterization, and perhaps angioplasty or bypass surgery can mean the difference between disability payments or early retirement or a full pension with the health to enjoy it. You can do far more than you can imagine to assist your doctor in major decision making, which will result in better planning of the treatment and control of your angina. Informed communication with your physician will be the theme of the book.
Coronary artery atherosclerosis does not go away. Once it has been diagnosed, you will have to deal with it for the rest of your life. Your active participation in your own care, based on what you may find pertinent in this book, will lessen your burden of living with angina.
