Overcoming Hypertension: Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper's Preventive Medicine Program

by Kenneth H. Cooper

Like a time bomb ticking away, hypertension builds quietly, gradually, placing unbearable strain on the body until it explodes--in heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, arterial disease, even death. But the disease does not have to progress that way. Here, in the third volume of the highly acclaimed "Preventive Medicine Program," Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper, one of the nations foremost experts in the field of preventive medicine, presents a medically sound, reassuringly simple program that help you lower you blood pressure--and keep it down, often without drugs. "Overcoming Hypertension" gives you:
--The latest facts on how cholesterol, cigarette smoking, obesity, and stress affect coronary risk levels.


--Your high blood pressure risk profile, with newly devised charts for men and women.


--A complete fitness program that lets you choose the sport that works for you. Plus a unique illustrated guide to aqua-aerobics.


--Tips on talking to your doctor that will help you become an active participant in your own recovery.


--A guide to anti-hypertensive drugs--the most up-to-date list of medications, their recommended daily doses, and ways to minimize side effects.


--Three distinct dietary programs, complete with menus, recipes, nutritional charts, healthy cooking tips, and much more.


--Take charge of your health and well-being with "Overcoming Hypertension."

"From the Paperback edition."

399 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Peter Farness · Rating 2 out of 5]

A difficult pill to swallow for sure. I know that Dr. Cooper is pretty much a legend and helped ignite the whole aerobics movement, but I'm not in love with his presentation here. It's pretty fragmented. I don't even know how much he really wrote himself. I don't know how much of this he wrote himself. The chapter on blood pressure cuffs was pretty much cribbed an ENTIRE Consumer Reports article. The book is heavily reliant on a reference book for doctors The Management of Hypertension, by Norman Kaplan. I haven't read Cooper's other books in his Preventative Medicineseries, such as Overcoming Osteoporosis. But I can assume that they're not too great either if his Cooper Institute just pumped 'em out like they did this one.
I must admit that there is a method to the madness. He gives you all the pieces. The information is there. It's potentially still a good reference. The nutritional data tables are all based on theories about saturated fat that were popular around 1990. I get the basic gist: You want to cut back on processed foods. I am equally terrible in the kitchen as I was in the chemistry lab, but at the end of the day all you can do is do your best. That's all you can ask. Ultimately, this could have been far more effective with better editing.