07 March 2005 - 09:29, Stan Kaufman said
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Harlan Krumholz MD SM, esteemed member of the Cardiovascular Outcomes
Research Consortium and Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and
Public Health at Yale University School of Medicine, has just published
a new patient-oriented book called The Expert Guide to Beating Heart Disease: What You Absolutely Must Know. “Harlan’s book beautifully describes the clinical applications of the sorts of outcomes research we do at CORC,” says John Spertus MD MPH, director of CORC. “His introduction to the Seattle Angina Questionnaire is particularly useful.”

Dr. Krumholz explains that his motivation for writing a popular book at this point in time is this: “I want people to know the difference between strategies that are proven — for which there is little controversy, broad consensus, and little likelihood of future reversal — and strategies whose support is still evolving and for which there remains uncertainty even among proponents. The book does not tell people what to do but rather presents a road map that helps people to best align treatment decisions with their own goals.”

Regarding the Seattle Angina Questionnaire, Dr. Krumholz adds: “The SAQ is an ideal way to measure the burden of your heart disease symptoms — it produces a number that can be tracked over time — and used by you and your physician to determine the progress you are making. I believe that one day tools like this will become routine in physician offices. What it does is help you and your doctor to understand how you are experiencing your heart disease and what effect it is having on your life.”

Dr. Krumholz reviews the major points of his book in this this WebMD interview.