"Heart:A History"

     Author and cardiologist Sandeep Jauhar relates his personal history and the history of the advances in cardiology, and shows how the heart functions, may become problematic, then treated.  He writes, "Understanding how and why my grandfather had died, and what implications his premature death had for my father, my siblings, and me, was fundamentally intertwined with my decision to train in cardiology."
     Historically, the heart has become a metaphor for courage, emotion, sympathy, and love, but can be viewed as a machine, a pump with a set of pipes, a circulation system that generates it's own electricity.  Sometimes problems arise caused by genetics, injury, and disease.  Other problems occur from unhealthy habits and may be prevented with proper diet, exercise, and stress management while avoiding detrimental behaviors.
     In addition to eating right and exercising, Jauhar recommends, "take good care of your interpersonal relationships and the way you deal with life's inevitable upsets and traumas.  Your mind-set, your coping strategies, how you navigate challenging circumstances, your capacity to love, these things, I believe, are also a matter of life and death."