TRUE WELLNESS FOR THE HEART

A book about blending Eastern and Western medicine for heart health.

In the newest book in their series, medical doctors Kuhn and Kurosu (True Wellness: The Mind, 2019, etc.), who now practice holistic healing, examine cardiac health from an integrative perspective, combining different approaches to health care. As in their previous installments, the authors blend divergent tenets of Eastern and Western medicine—Kurosu trained in Canada and the United States and Kuhn, in China—into a cohesive wellness approach. They note some surprising parallels and highlight beneficial practices from each type of medicine and walk readers through ways to make them work together. This book specifically focuses on prevention and treatment of cardiac illnesses, combining traditional medicine with practices involving acupuncture, herbs, yoga, and qi gong and rounding the regime out with tips on exercise, nutrition, meditation, and sleep. Their goal is educational, so the opening chapters aim to give readers a grounding in some of the science, history, and philosophy behind various treatments. They also include an in-depth examination of common cardiovascular problems, including hypertension, coronary artery disease, heart attacks, arrhythmias, and valve problems. Not all sections will apply to all readers, obviously, so some sections may be challenging to wade through. For instance, the book extensively details how blood vessels function, which sometimes requires the use of scientific language that casual readers may find difficult to grasp. However, the book also dispenses a good dose of general information about everyday lifestyle choices that are easy for anyone to comprehend and implement, and the authors liven up the concepts with examples from their own lives and practices. “Homework,” including mental exercises as well as instructive diagrams and illustrations, will help readers customize their own wellness plans. The authors support their advice with exhaustive citations, which makes the book feel more comprehensive than other, similar works.

A detailed and appealing work on wellness.