Description
Harisson’s cardiovascular medicine
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the
United States, and is rapidly becoming a major cause of
death in the developing world. Advances in the therapy
and prevention of cardiovascular diseases have clearly
improved the lives of patients with these common, potentially devastating disorders; yet, the disease prevalence and
the risk factor burden for disease (especially obesity in
the United States and smoking worldwide) continue to
increase globally. Cardiovascular medicine is, therefore, of
crucial importance to the field of internal medicine.
Cardiovascular medicine is a large and growing subspecialty,
and comprises a number of specific subfields,
including coronary heart disease, congenital heart disease,
valvular heart disease, cardiovascular imaging, electrophysiology,
and interventional cardiology. Many of these
areas involve novel technologies that facilitate diagnosis
and therapy.The highly specialized nature of these disciplines
within cardiology and the increasing specialization
of cardiologists argue for the importance of a broad view
of cardiovascular medicine by the internist in helping to
guide the patient through illness and the decisions that
arise in the course of its treatment.
