Shari R. Waldstein - Böcker

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in most westernized nations. This unique book examines interrelations among biological, behavioral, psychological, and social factors in cardiovascular health and disease.

Behavioral and Social Science in Medicine: Principles and Practice of Biopsychosocial Care provides state of the art reviews of the critical topic areas in undergraduate medical education identified in the 2004 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, “Improving Medical Education: Enhancing the Behavioral and Social Sciences Content of Medical School Curricula.” The text is supplemented by web-enhanced learning materials including linked case studies, PDA materials, a study guide, and other online supplementary materials designed to actively engage learners while allowing for adaptations to learner and/or program needs. Although this text meets essential specific knowledge objectives in multiple domains, it emphasizes a core biopsychosocial approach across all content domains. The text focuses on helping learners develop the skills necessary to integrate complex interacting health-related variables across multiple frames of reference. The textbook addresses each of the six IOM domains: 1)Mind-body interactions in health and disease – focuses on the four primary pathways of disease (biological, behavioral, psychological, and social). Students need to recognize and understand the many complex interactions among these pathways that may be compromising a patient’s physical and/or mental health. 2) Patient behavior – centers on behavioral pathways to promoting health and preventing disease. Educating medical students about behaviors that pose a risk to health will better equip them to provide appropriate interventions and influence patient behavior. 3) Physician role and behavior – emphasizes the physician’s personal background and beliefs as they may affect patient care, as well as the physician’s own well-being. 4) Physician-patient interactions – focuses on the ability to communicate effectively, which, as noted above, is a critical component of medical practice. 5) Social and cultural issues in health care – addresses what physicians need to know and do to provide appropriate care to patients with differing social, cultural, and economic backgrounds. 6) Health policy and economics – includes those topics to which medical students should be exposed to help them understand the health care system in which they will eventually practice. Currently, many medical educators are required to piece together readings and other teaching materials to satisfy the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) requirements for behavioral and social science content in medical education. This volume is designed to satisfy LCME content requirements with the latest evidence-based materials in the social and behavioral sciences.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States and most westernized nations. Both CVDs and their risk factors confer substantial risk for stroke and dementia, but are also associated with more subtle changes in brain structure and function and cognitive performance prior to such devastating clinical outcomes. It has been suggested that there exists a continuum of brain abnormalities and cognitive difficulties associated with increasingly severe manifestations of cardiovascular risk factors and diseases that precede vascular cognitive impairment and may ultimately culminate in stroke or dementia.This second edition examines the relations of a host of behavioral and biomedical risk factors, in addition to subclinical and clinical CVDs, to brain and cognitive function. Associations with dementia and pre-dementia cognitive performance are reported, described, and discussed with a focus on underlying brain mechanisms. Future research agendas are suggested, and clinical implications are considered. The volume is a resource for professionals and students in neuropsychology, behavioral medicine, neurology, cardiology, cardiovascular and behavioral epidemiology, gerontology, geriatric medicine, nursing, adult developmental psychology, and for other physicians and health care professionals who work with patients with, or at risk for, CVDs.