Athletics and the Heart.

Athletics and the Heart This book is an authorized translation from the German edition, Herz Und Sport, published and copyrighted in 1984 by Perimed Fachbuch-Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Erlangen, Germany. The author is a professor and chairman of the Institute of Sports Medicine at the University of Dortmund in West Germany. The purpose of this book was to determine the status of sports cardiology by reviewing the scientific developments in this field and to examine the relationships between athletics and the heart from a practical, medical point of view in order to address common questions asked by patients. The reader is provided with comprehensive coverage of how the heart functions and adjusts under different forms of physiologic stress, including a description of the athlete's heart from the perspective of historical development and on the basis of the anatomic and clinical characteristics; the possible cardiac incidents related to athletic activity; the value of athletics for thepatient with a cardiac condition; and the interaction of physical activity and pharmacologic management of the patient with a cardiac condition.

An extensive bibliography accompanies this text; it consists of 286 entries, approximately 60% of which are from the German literature. The author carefully integrates scientific research findings throughout the text, including numerous findings from his own work. This book is well documented and is richly endowed with over 60 illustrations.

This book is unique in its dedication to the relationship between athletics and the heart and would be useful reading for physical therapy practitioners, physical educators, trainers, and coaches.