Good News About High Blood Pressure: Everything You Need to Know to Take Control of Hypertension...and Your Life [Paperback]

Thomas Pickering (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Pickering, who is director of New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center's Hypertension Center, is skeptical of psychological approaches to treating hypertension and of most of alternative medicine approaches. The information offered here is conservative, mainstream and useful. Basic facts are presented clearly and summarized concisely at the end of each chapter. Since hypertension is linked to arterial disease, such topics as atherosclerosis and cholesterol levels are also covered. The connections between hypertension and strokes and heart attacks are explained, as are the effects on blood pressure of stress, obesity, smoking, caffeine, alcohol and the diet, especially the intake of salt and fat. Faulting the low-fat diet for lowering HDL, the "good" cholesterol, Pickering advocates the so-called Mediterranean diet, which is rich in olive oil. His explanations of various blood-pressure and cholesterol-lowering medications and his discussion of vitamins and over-the-counter remedies are straightforward and instructive.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description

Did you know that one in five people diagnosed with high blood pressure exhibit symptoms only in a doctor's office? A low-salt diet isn't right for everyone with high blood pressure? Risk factors for women and men vary? Written by an internationally acclaimed authority GOOD NEWS ABOUT HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE reveals some surprising facts about this silent killer.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Fireside; 1st Fireside Ed edition (March 7, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684832119
• ISBN-13: 978-0684832111
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,378,767 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

  #47 in

  Books > Health, Mind & Body > Disorders & Diseases > High Blood Pressure

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear, scientific, rational guide for the hypertensive, November 10, 1999

By	Charlie Riley - See all my reviews

This review is from: Good News About High Blood Pressure: Everything You Need to Know to Take Control of Hypertension...and Your Life (Paperback)

The first reviewer's comment that "The only thing that kept me from giving him a five-star rating is his negative reaction to alternative treatments" convinced me to buy this book. I was looking for a book that explains what medical science actually knows about high blood pressure, and instead ran into a slew of "Smile your way out of hypertension!" pseudo-scientific nonsensicals. Fie on so-called "alternative" treatments: I wanted to read solid knowledge. I was relieved and pleased to find this book. Pickering presents what is known, describes tested treatments, is realistic about weight, exercise, and gender/race/age without being discouraging or fatalistic, and does it in a readable way. I highly recommend this book.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book is definitely worth reading, April 20, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Good News About High Blood Pressure: How to Take Control of Hypertension---and Your Life (Hardcover)

Dr. Pickering does a good job of explaining how your body works and its relationship to high blood pressure. He does a great job of interpreting conflicting studies. The only thing that kept me from giving him a five star rating is his negative reaction to alternative treatments.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on high blood pressure, August 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Good News About High Blood Pressure: Everything You Need to Know to Take Control of Hypertension...and Your Life (Paperback)

After reading many of the popular books on high blood pressure, I must rank this one the best. I was particularly happy with the chapter on "white coat hypertension" and blood pressuure measurement and the many related studies that he comments on. Many books tend to have just a paragraph on this subject and gloss over such an important issue. The chapter on the "work-up" was also very useful to me. Now I will feel much more comfortable about asking my own doctor about a renin-sodium profile and an echo-cardiogram to be included for me. I would have liked to see a discussion of the "uric-acid" debate. Perhaps the publication of the book predated this debate. I was also happy that he chose to have a separate chapter about high blood pressure in seniors. With a hyperensive 70 year-old mum to worry about, this chapter was a wonderful source of information. Like another reviewer, I felt the section on "Alternative Medicine" was relatively small and brusque. But in earlier sections Dr Pickering did consider the mineral supplement issues in depth - what he doesn't consider is whether one should be taking natural herb supplements. His discussion of meditation could be improved significantly. But a weak discussion of alternative medicine should not detract from an otherwise very useful and authoritative book. I hope Dr Pickering will give us an updated version of this book - and allow Dr Andrew Weil to write the section on alternative treatments