A Cardiologist Reveals the Secret Language of Healing
Mimi Guarneri, M.D., FACC
http://www.drmimig.com/

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The Heart Speaks is a simple and profound book. Dr. Guarneri, a top cardiac surgeon and self-described "triple type A personality" in her first incarnation as a doctor practicing standard medicine, is now the founder and current Medical Director of the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine.

She credits her patients with teaching her, finally, that the heart is not just a mechanical pump to be regulated, bypassed, or transplanted, but "an organ of great intelligence, with its own nervous system, decision-making powers, and connections to the brain. [The Laceys] also found that the heart had its own logic, which often diverged from the command of the autonomic nervous system... Armour's pioneering work in neurocardiology demonstrated that each beat of the heart sends complex signals to the brain and other organs. These heart signals are capable of reaching higher brain centers, ultimately affecting our reason and choices, our emotions and perceptions.Apparently, the heart has not only its own language, but its own mind." (p.156)

This is an easy read, peppered with stories of the patients who taught Guarneri that real healing requires the full attention of the doctor on the patient as a person. There is plenty of practical information about living a heart-healthy lifestyle by watching nutrition and excercise, and what can happen if you don't. But the extreme importance of taking care of our hearts by taking care for the quality of  our lives comes through loud and clear. Her most profound realization as a doctor is that every patient will tell the cause and the solution to their disease if one just takes the time to listen to the whole story - the heart's story.