The Curious History of the Heart : A Cultural and Scientific Journey

Includes References (273-283) and Index

I The Ancient Heart
1 The Heart Means Life
2 Heart and Soul
3 The Heart and God
4 An Emotional Heart 5 Ancient Understanding of the Physical Heart 6 Ancient Heart Disease II The Heart Goes Into the Darkness and Comes Out in the Light 7 The Dark Ages 8 The Islamic Golden Age 9 The Viking Cold Hjarta 10 American Heart Sacrifice 11 The Heart Renaissance 12 Hither and Thither III heART 13 The Heart in Art 14 The Heart in Literature 15 The Heart in Music.16 Heart Rituals IV Heart 101 17 The Pump 18 Heart Anatomy 19 Heart Sounds 20 The Color of Blood 21 The Heart's Electrical System 22 What Is an EKG? 23 What Is Blood Pressure? 24 What Is Heart Failure? 25 What Is "Having a Coronary"? 26 Sex, Race, and Ethnicity in Heart Disease 27 Sudden Death of an Athlete 28 The Word Heart V The Modern Heart 29 Enlightenment and the Age of Revolution 30 The Twentieth Century and Heart Disease 31 Aspirin 32 The Twentieth Century and Heart Surgery 33 The Heart Now 34 The Broken Heart Syndrome.35 The Heart-Brain Connection 36 The Future Heart

This book traces the evolution of our understanding of the heart from the dawn of civilization 15,000 years ago to today. It examines how we humans have evolved our beliefs about the purpose of the heart to try to understand what life forces it contains. Throughout our history, the heart has played an important role for the poet, the philosopher, and the physician. Until modern times, the heart was considered the home of our emotions, thoughts, memories and the soul. The brain has now taken over as the center of our consciousness and feelings, even though the heart continues to play a central role in our cultural iconography. It is only recently that medical science is finding the heart may indeed hold feelings, and in fact, is part of a two-way "heart-brain connection." A new area of medical science called neurocardiology suggests the heart directs the brain as much as the brain directs the heart. This book chronologically examines how the once 'king' of the organs became dismissed as a mere mechanistic blood pump subservient to the brain, yet remains so central to our daily lives as a symbol of love and health. As a physician fascinated with this extraordinary organ, Vincent Michael Figueredo has included a section on how the heart works, heart diseases, and gender and racial/ethnic differences in heart disease. He explores advancements in heart therapies in modern times, and what the future may hold. What we are now learning shows our ancestors weren't so wrong about the heart after all. That is, the heart is a part of a two-way interaction with the brain, together ensuring our mental, spiritual, and physical health.