Garfinkel, Alan, Young-Hoon Kim, Olga Voroshilovsky, Zhilin Qu, Jong R. Kil, Moon-Hyoung Lee, Hrayr S. Karagueuzian, James N. Weiss, and Peng-Sheng Chen. “Preventing Ventricular Fibrillation by Flattening Cardiac Restitution.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 97, no. 11 (2000): 6061–66.
Gray, Richard A., José Jalife, Alexandre Panfilov, William T. Baxter, Cándido Cabo, Jorge M. Davidenko, and Arkady M. Pertsov. “Nonstationary Vortex-Like Reentrant Activity as a Mechanism of Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia in the Isolated Rabbit Heart.” Circulation 91, no. 9 (1995): 2454–69.
Link, Mark S., et al. “An Experimental Model of Sudden Death Due to Low-Energy Chest-Wall Impact (Commotio Cordis).” The New England Journal of Medicine 338, no. 25 (1998): 1805–11.
MacWilliam, John A. “Cardiac Failure and Sudden Death.” British Medical Journal 1, no. 1462 (1889): 6.
Mines, George Ralph. “On Circulating Excitations in Heart Muscles and Their Possible Relation to Tachycardia and Fibrillation.” Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada 8 (1914): 43–52.
Myerburg, Robert J., Kenneth M. Kessler, and Agustin Castellanos. “Pathophysiology of Sudden Cardiac Death.” Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology 14, no. 5 (1991): 935–43.
Ruelle, David, and Floris Takens. “On the Nature of Turbulence.” Communications in Mathematical Physics 20, no. 3 (1971): 167–92.
Winfree, Arthur T. “Electrical Turbulence in Three-Dimensional Heart Muscle.” Science 206 (1994): 1003–1006.
——. “Sudden Cardiac Death: A Problem in Topology?” Scientific American 248, no. 5 (1983): 144–61.
10. GENERATOR
Heilman, M. S. “Collaboration with Michel Mirowski on the Development of the AICD.” Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology 14, no. 5 (1991): 910–15.
Jeffrey, Kirk. Machines in Our Hearts: The Cardiac Pacemaker, the Implantable Defibrillator, and American Health Care. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.
Kinney, Martha Pat. “Knickerbocker, G. Guy.” Science Heroes. www.scienceheroes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=338&Itemid=284.
Mirowski, M., et al. “Termination of Malignant Ventricular Arrhythmias with an Implanted Automatic Defibrillator in Human Beings.” The New England Journal of Medicine 303, no. 6 (1980): 322–24.
Mower, Morton M. “Building the AICD with Michel Mirowski.” Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology 14, no. 5 (1991): 928–34.
Worthington, Janet Farrar. “The Engineer Who Could.” Hopkins Medical News (Winter 1998).
11. REPLACEMENT PARTS
Cooley, Denton A. “The Total Artificial Heart as a Bridge to Cardiac Transplantation: Personal Recollections.” Texas Heart Institute Journal 28, no. 3 (2001): 200.
DeVries, William C., Jeffrey L. Anderson, Lyle D. Joyce, Fred L. Anderson, Elizabeth H. Hammond, Robert K. Jarvik, and Willem J. Kolff. “Clinical Use of the Total Artificial Heart.” The New England Journal of Medicine 310, no. 5 (1984): 273–78.
McCrae, Donald. Every Second Counts: The Race to Transplant the First Human Heart. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2006.
“Norman Shumway, Heart Transplantation Pioneer, Dies at 83.” Stanford Medicine News Center, Feb. 10, 2007. med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2006/02/norman-shumway-heart-transplantation-pioneer-dies-at-83.html.
Perciaccante, A., M. A. Riva, A. Coralli, P. Charlier, and R. Bianucci. “The Death of Balzac (1799–1850) and the Treatment of Heart Failure During the Nineteenth Century.” Journal of Cardiac Failure 22, no. 11 (2016): 930–33.
Strauss, Michael J. “The Political History of the Artificial Heart.” The New England Journal of Medicine 310, no. 5 (1984): 332–36.
Woolley, F. Ross. “Ethical Issues in the Implantation of the Artificial Heart.” The New England Journal of Medicine 310, no. 5 (1984): 292–96.
12. VULNERABLE HEART
Lown, Bernard. The Lost Art of Healing. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996.
Sears, Samuel F., Jamie B. Conti, Anne B. Curtis, Tara L. Saia, Rebecca Foote, and Francis Wen. “Affective Distress and Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators: Cases for Psychological and Behavioral Interventions.” Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology 2, no. 12 (1999): 1831–34.
13. A MOTHER’S HEART
De Silva, Regis A. “John MacWilliam, Evolutionary Biology, and Sudden Cardiac Death.” Journal of the American College of Cardiology 14, no. 7 (1989): 1843–49.
14. COMPENSATORY PAUSE
Dimsdale, Joel E. “Psychological Stress and Cardiovascular Disease.” Journal of the American College of Cardiology 51, no. 13 (2008): 1237–46.
Acknowledgments
I am deeply indebted to so many for their help and support in the writing of this book, but none more so than the patients I’ve had the privilege to care for and learn from during my years as a physician.
My agent, Todd Shuster, has been a friend and an ally for almost two decades. He made me believe that I could write books.
I owe a debt of gratitude to my brilliant editor, Alex Star, who had a clear vision for this book when we first discussed it over lunch. “It will be about the heart, not the heart doctor,” he continually reminded me. “We will get closer to our own hearts by reading this book.” Alex’s editorial acumen is present throughout. I was very lucky to work with him.
I also wish to thank several other colleagues at Farrar, Straus and Giroux: Dominique Lear, who attended to so many important details during the publication process; Jonathan Lippincott, who managed the design; Nick Courage, who created my website; Ingrid Sterner, my copy editor; Susan Gold-farb, my production editor; Scott Borchert; Laury Frieber; and my wonderful publicity team: Jeff Seroy, Brian Gittis, Sarita Varma, and Daniel del Valle.
And of course I am indebted to Jonathan Galassi and Eric Chinski for giving me the chance to write the book in the first place.
I have had the enormous privilege of writing for The New York Times for two decades. I am grateful to the many editors there who have helped shape me as a writer, but I owe a special thanks to the preternaturally smart Jamie Ryerson, my op-ed page editor, who has pushed me in my journalism as much as anyone I’ve worked with.
I am lucky to have a tremendous group of colleagues where I work. I especially want to thank Tamara Jansz, my dear friend; Kim Hammond; Maureen Hogan; Tracey Spruill; and Mickey Katz. I am also grateful to Barry Kaplan, Michael Dowling, David Battinelli, and Lawrence Smith for their ongoing support of my writing.
Several other friends and assistants have earned my heartfelt appreciation, including Eugenie L-Shiah, Angela Goddard, Elias Altman, Sarah Tanchuck, Abbey Wolf, Lisa DeBene-dettis, Sung Lee, and Paul Elie. They all critiqued early drafts of the manuscript or assisted me with research. Two assistants stand out for special recognition, Cody Elkhechen and Isabella Gomes, for their intense devotion to the manuscript and for making countless helpful suggestions.
Of course, I am ultimately responsible for these contents. If there are any mistakes, the fault is mine and mine alone.
I save my deepest gratitude for my family: my father, Prem, and my dear sister, Suneeta; my mother, Raj, whom I will always miss; and my brother, Rajiv, who was a deep reservoir of support throughout the entire enterprise. I am also grateful to my wife Sonia’s family for their love and support.
Before I had kids, my mother told me, “You can never understand just how much you will love them.” She was right. My son, Mohan, is my right-hand man. My darling Pia was the first to tell me to write a book about the heart. They are the twin lights of my life.
Finally, I am ever grateful to my dear wife, Sonia, my partner for twenty years, my love, my toughest critic, and the one person without whom my life would not be.
Index
Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations.
ACE inhibitors, 239
acute infectious diseases, 116–17
adrenaline, 24, 30, 124, 129, 152, 160, 221
Advocate Christ Medical Center (Oak Lawn, Illinois), 195–96
<
br /> Africa, 203
African-Americans, 62, 64, 124
“agonal” breathing, 197
AIDS, 87, 165
alcohol consumption, 121–22, 126
alcohol withdrawal, 28
algorithms, treatment, 54, 167
Allenstein (Germany), 66
allostasis, 125n
alpha-lipoic acid, 148
alternative medicine, 19, 146–50, 163, 165, 180, 181, 211
Altman, Lawrence, 105
Amberg, Ray, 82
American Heart Association, 85, 130, 142
American Heart Journal, 122
amiodarone, 214–15
Anatomical and Surgical Society of Brooklyn, 63
Anderson, Patty, 94
anger, 106, 127, 164, 226
angina, 4, 114, 224
angiogenesis, 134n
angiograms, 99, 101, 133, 142–43, 164, 177, 236; CT, 3–5, 55, 232, 234, 241–42
angioplasty, 139–43, 231, 236, 238, 240
animal experiments, 10, 40–42, 78, 103, 157–59, 168; on artificial heart, 190; on autonomic and parasympathetic nervous systems, 30–31, 59; on cardiac catheterization, 103–104, 108–11, 140; on cardiac electrophysiology, 17–20, 47, 153, 226; on cholesterol, 118, 128; on circulation, 44–45, 151; on defibrillation, 172; on emotional and psychological disruption, 128–29, 205–206, 214, 220; on heart-lung machines, 91–94; on implantable cardiac devices, 170–71, 174–76; on surgical techniques, 63–64, 74–75, 77–78, 80; on transplantation, 186–89
antecubital vein, 105, 106
atherosclerosis, 3, 37, 42, 118, 128–29, 140, 221; in South
Asians, 123n, 234; see also plaque
antianxiety medications, 215
antibiotics, 84, 144, 148, 177
antidepressants, 215
anti-inflammatory drugs, 132
antirejection drugs, 188
Antony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare), 21
anxiety, 101, 127, 206, 213, 215
aorta, 37–38, 46, 128, 135–36, 135, 196; catheters inserted through, 100, 110, 142; heart-lung machines and, 72, 96–98
aortic dissection, 55
aortic valve, 42, 135
apnea, 197
Archives of Internal Medicine, 13
Aristotle, 63
Arkansas, University of, 26–27
arousal, 124–25, 213–14
arrhythmias, 25, 31, 111, 150, 196, 217, 236; electrophysiology of, 153–55; implanted defibrillators causing, 213–14; medications for preventing, 159–61, 207, 214–15; see also ventricular fibrillation
artificial hearts, 22, 182, 189–96, 212
Ativan, 165, 177
atria, 18, 36–38, 72, 151, 152, 166, 192; catheters threaded into, 107–108, 108, 110; congenital defects of, 75, 77–78, 94; mitral valve infections and, 69–71, 88; see also sinoatrial node
atrial septal defects (ASDs), 77, 78, 94
atrioventricular node, 151–52, 152
attention deficits, 96
Auguste-Viktoria Hospital (Eberswalde, Germany), 102, 104–108, 144
Australian Aboriginal, The (Basedow), 27
autonomic nervous system, 29–31, 59, 128, 206
autonomy, 80, 126
autopsies, 13, 25, 34, 84, 111, 128, 161
Aztecs, 12
Bachman, Adolph, 142
backflow, 47
Bailey, Charles P., 163
Bakken, Earl, 171, 175–76
balloon angioplasty, 140–43, 239–40
Baltimore, 173
Balzac, Honoré de, 186
Bangladesh, 28
Barnard, Christiaan, 183, 186–88, 192
Basedow, Herbert, 27
Battelli, Frédéric, 171
Bavolek, Cecilia, 94–95, 95
Baylor College of Medicine, 190
Beck, Claude, 86, 99, 172
Bellevue Hospital (New York City), 109, 137–38, 149, 161, 164, 178–80; cardiology fellowships at, 51–61, 99, 143, 212;and 9/11 terrorist attack, 204, 205
Benzedrine, 118
Berlin (Germany), 67, 103, 107; University of, 103–104
Bernard, Claude, 104
beta-blockers, 4, 160–61, 207, 239
Bethesda Naval Hospital, 115
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston), 166
Bigelow, Wilfred, 77, 170
Billroth, Theodor, 63, 67
biological mechanisms, 129–30
black Americans, 62, 64, 124
Block, M., 63
blood clots, 37, 63–65, 89–91, 96, 113, 155, 221; artificial hearts as cause of, 189, 191, 195, 212
blood flow, 42, 52, 109, 160, 166–68, 234; in artificial hearts, 195; dropping or inadequate, 54, 56, 114, 185–86, 197; improvement of, 238–39; plaques obstructing, 129, 133–34; restoration of, 138, 141–43; ventricular fibrillation and, 9, 157; see also circulation
blood pressure, 4, 125n, 160, 173, 223–24; causes of drops in, 31, 54–57, 59–63, 141, 185–86, 221; high, see hypertension/high blood pressure
“Blood Pressure and Heart Action in Sleep and Dreams” (MacWilliam), 220
blood tests, 64, 100, 119, 120, 137, 185, 233
blood thinners, 88, 94, 189
body weight, 121, 122, 129
Böhme, Jakob, 33
Boston, 117, 166, 191; hospitals in, 89, 90n, 93, 206
Boston Scientific Corporation, 141
brain damage, 73, 74, 77, 85, 188
brain death, 12, 187, 188n
breast cancer, 57
breath, shortness of, 24, 25, 115, 145, 150, 184, 192
bridge therapy, 196
Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston), 206
Bristol (England), 81
Britain, 231; epidemiological studies in, 125–26; India ruled by, 28
British East India Company, 36
British Medical Journal, 219
Brock, Lord, 87
broken-heart syndrome, see takotsubo cardiomyopathy
Bruenn, Howard, 115, 120
Buffalo, 169–70; University of, 169
Bull, Lucien, 153
bypass surgery, 91, 97, 138, 141–42, 144, 164, 231, 238
cadavers, 33–38, 41–42, 47–48, 72, 122, 176, 202; surgical techniques practiced on, 63, 107, 140, 141, 176
Cairo, 41
California, 8, 17, 176
California, University of: Berkeley, 123; Los Angeles (UCLA), 160; San Francisco, 231
Cambridge School of Physiology, 153
Canada, 153, 170
cancer, 12, 37, 75–76, 77n, 165, 238; breast, 57; lung, 142, 144, 237
Cannon, Walter B., 27, 31
capacitance, 129
Cape Town (South Africa), 186
cardiac arrest, 10, 157–59, 167, 179, 207, 242; defibrillators to reverse, 10, 172–76, 211
cardiac care units (CCUs), 54, 137, 149, 157, 164
cardiac catheterization, 52, 99, 101, 113, 132–34, 164; angioplasty performed with, 139, 143–44; experiments on, 104, 107–109
cardiac electrophysiology, 153–57, 161, 166, 171
cardiac restitution, 160
cardiac tamponade, 56–57, 61–63, 141
cardiac work cycles, 129
cardioid, 21–22
cardiomyopathy, 24, 24–26, 31, 124
cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), 138, 157, 173, 191, 224; see also defibrillation
CardioWest, artifical heart, 195
Carrel, Alexis, 10
Carrión, Daniel, 105–106
Case Western Reserve University, 86, 172
cautery, 72, 178
cellular ion channel, 52
Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 117
Chambers Center for Well Being (Morristown, New Jersey), 232, 235–38
chaos, 156, 160
Chardack, William, 169–70
Charité Hospital (Berlin), 107
charity hospitals, 62
Charles I, King of England, 45n
Cheney, Dick, 196
&n
bsp; chest compressions, 138, 157, 173, 191, 224
Chicago, 61, 62, 65, 123n
Chicago Medical College, 62
cholera, 29, 115–17
cholesterol, 4, 37, 54, 118, 129–30, 133–34, 232–34, 237–39
Churchill, Edward, 89–91
Churchill, Winston, 114
cigarette smoking, see smoking
circulation, 10, 18, 38, 40, 46–47, 110, 115, 219; electrophysiology of, 150–55, 155, 159; Harvey’s discovery of, 14, 43–46; methods of stopping during heart surgery (see cross-circulation; heart-lung machines; hypothermia); see also blood flow
Civil War, 117
Clark, Barney, 22, 191–94, 196
Cleveland, 86
Cleveland, Grover, 65
Cleveland Clinic, 97, 134, 189, 192
clinical trials, 129, 187
Clinician’s Handbook of Natural Healing, The (Null), 147
Cobb, W. Montague, 64
cognitive-behavioral therapy, 215
cognitive impairment, 96, 221
collateral circulation, 134n
Columbia-Presbyterian Medical
Center, 109
community-based emergency rescue programs, 157
compensatory pause, 233
congenital heart abnormalities, 73, 75, 78–81, 85–86, 96, 109, 145
congestive heart failure, 13, 25, 34, 75, 115, 150, 184–86; end-stage, 22, 36, 184, 186, 190–91, 196
Congress, U.S., 115
consent, 80, 100, 164, 188, 194
continuous-flow devices, 195
Cooley, Denton, 190–91
Cornish, James, 61–62, 64–65
coronary artery calcifications, see atherosclerosis; plaque
coronary bypass surgery, see bypass surgery
coronary thrombosis, 37, 97, 114, 129, 232, 239
cortisol, 124
Cosmopolitan magazine, 85
Cournand, André, 99, 109–10
CPR, see cardiopulmonary resuscitation
Crandall (high school science teacher), 17, 18, 20
Cro-Magnons, 38
cross-circulation, 74–75, 77, 79–80, 83, 84–86, 168
CT scans, 3–4, 121, 232, 234–35, 241, 242
Dalton, Henry, 62n
Damascus, 41
Dante Alighieri, 145
Darwin, Charles, 201
DeBakey, Michael, 190
defibrillators, 10, 136–38, 157, 171–76, 180, 215, 238; implantable, 53, 149–50, 163–65, 173–80, 190, 205, 207–16
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