Stressed out Heart: Simple Techniques for Keeping Your Heart Healthy

By Kirk Laman

Do you feel overstressed?
Do you wonder if stress could be placing You at risk for Heart Disease?
If you do then you need to read Stressed Out Heart.
In Stressed Out Heart, Dr. Kirk Laman, a board certifi ed cardiologist will help you determine if stress could be putting you or someone you love in harms way. Dr. Laman has over 20+ years of experience in dealing with patients who have heart disease, and he has worked extensively in Helping people overcome their stress. Youll learn why its essential to Overcome Stress Now and why waiting to work on Your stress could be dangerous. Dr. Laman will also share with you some powerful techniques for managing, reducing or eliminating your stress.
Dont miss this Opportunity to keep your heart Stress Free.
Read Stressed Out Heart and start your healing process immediately.
KIRK LAMAN www.drlaman.com

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 12, 2012
• ISBN: 9781469193007

Book preview

Copyright © 2012 by Kirk Laman.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2012906505

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-4691-9299-4

               Softcover      978-1-4691-9298-7

               Ebook            978-1-4691-9300-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

112137

Contents

PREFACE

ABOUT

DR. LAMan

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER Three

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

NOTES

PREFACE

Jennie! Jennie! Come back! Liza screamed at the top of her lungs to her six-year-old daughter, who was doggie paddling away into dangerously deep water.

The two were at Lake Michigan on a beautiful summer day. They had spent the morning making sand castles on the beach until it became warm enough to swim. Jennie was excited to try out what she had learned at her YMCA swim lessons.

Thirty or forty yards from shore, the water was only up to Liza’s waist. Jennie was eager to go further out to test her new skills, and Liza hesitantly agreed keeping an eye on the shore to ensure they weren’t drifting. But the current was strong, and in a flash her daughter was drifting dangerously far away, unable to hear her mother’s screams. The breeze that day seemed to snap up her voice and make it inaudible.

Liza tried to run to her daughter but found that the bottom of the lake dropped steeply just a foot or so out. She went under, her arms flailing in her attempts to reach her unsuspecting child. Deep in her heart, she began to fear they would both drown that day.

Liza finally reached Jennie and grabbed her, but the strength of the current was intensifying greatly. The two went under water briefly as the young mother tried desperately to steer them both toward shore. Miraculously, they were able to reach a part of the lake where Liza could stand, but the undertow was so strong that she was unable to take more than two or three strides at a time before they were pushed back by the current.

Liza screamed and waved her free arm, desperately trying to get the attention of people on shore. It was a weekday, so the beach was sparsely populated, and no one seemed able to hear. Unable to swim and hold her daughter at the same time, Liza strode as hard as she could toward shore. Each time she was pushed back, Jennie took on water and coughed violently.

Seventy-five yards from shore with the tide going out, it didn’t seem possible that Liza could keep them upright much longer. The two were tiring fast. She tried her best to comfort her daughter, assuring them that everything would be alright. Deep in her heart, though, Liza wasn’t so sure.

I could feel a tremendous sense of panic beginning to overtake me, she remembers. My heart began pounding. I tried my best to stay calm for Jennie, but as I fought against the powerful tide I became deeply fearful that we were going to die.

For the next forty-five minutes, Liza and Jennie struggled in the water against Lake Michigan’s strong undercurrent. She was able to keep the current from pulling them farther out, but she was unable to move closer to shore. Gradually, she began feeling herself weaken. As the few remaining visitors headed home the situation seemed more and more hopeless.

Finally, Liza spotted a young man and a young woman walking the beach who seemed to be looking in their general direction. Using all her remaining energy, she pushed forward five steps and screamed as loud as she could, waving her arm frantically, HELP!! HELP!!

For what seemed like an eternity, the young man stared as if unsure of what he saw. Then Liza saw him grab the woman’s hand and run for the beach facilities. Still, she fought to keep them from being swept away. Finally, to her overwhelming relief, she saw the flashing lights of EMS personnel arriving with tow ropes and life vests. Moments later, the two were hauled safely to shore.

What does this terrifying story have to do with a Stressed Out Heart?

Once onshore, Liza let out a soft cry and collapsed. The EMS personnel began working to revive her, taking her blood pressure and starting an IV. She and Jennie were transported to a local hospital where Liza complained of chest heaviness and difficulty breathing. An EKG confirmed heart attack-like symptoms.

Liza, a young healthy non-smoker with normal cholesterol levels and no family history of heart problems, was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and a possible heart attack.

She was immediately taken to the cardiac catheterization laboratory, but she didn’t have heart blockages. Her coronary arteries were normal. Yet her heart muscle, which had been fine a few days earlier, was now severely weakened.

What happened?

Liza had developed an unusual, but increasingly common condition caused by excessive stress injury on her heart. Stress alone had actually damaged her heart.

A Stressed Out Heart isn’t imaginary. It is a real condition and the consequences can be serious.

ABOUT

DR. LAMan

author.jpg

Dr. Kirk Laman is a board certified, cardiologist, author, and public speaker. He is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Michigan State University-College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Dr. Laman is known as the Wholehearted Cardiologist, a physician who seeks to address not just the physical heart but also the Whole heart; physical, emotional, and spiritual. Dr. Laman believes that ignoring the emotional and spiritual components of heart heath limit the ability to achieve optimal heart health.

Dr. Kirk Laman practices cardiology with the Thoracic Cardiovascular Institute, Mid-Michigan premier cardiovascular specialists. He takes care of patients in Lansing, and Owosso, Michigan.

Dr. Laman has written for the Detroit News, Medical Economics, as well as Spirituality and Health magazine. He has been interviewed on ABC, NBC, CBS, and PBS television in Michigan.

His book, How to Heal Your Broken Heart—A Cardiologist’s Secrets for Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Health is published by Advantage Press. It has been endorsed by Mark Victor Hansen, best-selling author of Chicken Soup for the Soul, best-selling author, Mehmet Oz, M.D. featured on the XM Radio program, Oprah and Friend.

In the book Dr. Kirk Laman offers readers a simple and easy way to begin the process of healing the psychological and emotions issues that trouble their hearts. Go to www.drlaman.com to find out more about this product.

Dr. Laman is also an avid public speaker and trainer. He brings his twenty years of practical experience as a cardiologist and healer/pastor to the table as he offers useful lessons in heartfelt living. Developing a deep connection with others in one of the key skills for success in any arena, Dr. Laman teaches audiences in simple terms how anyone can come from the heart.

He has been on the speaker’s bureau for Merck, and Pfizer, both Fortune 500 Companies, as well as Wyeth Laboratories. How Putting Your Heart into Life Makes the Difference is one of the key themes of Dr. Kirk Laman’s public speaking. His unique message is to demonstrate how applying a Heart Centered approach can make every endeavor successful—whether in business, your heart health, or just life. To book Dr. Laman for speaking engagements or seminars he can be contacted at [e-mail].

Dr. Laman is also a pastor in the Islamic Sufi order of Shadhiliyya Sufi’s. Sufism is the deep mystical path of the heart. The Head of the Higher Sufi Council of Jerusalem and the Holy Lands, Sidi Muhammad al-Jamal has conferred on Dr. Laman the title of a Master Sufi Teacher and Healer.

Dr. Laman teaches workshops and seminars for people seeking Whole Heart Health. His workshop: Creating a Heart Centered Life shows participants how to tap into their heart’s wisdom for health and wellness. Dr. Laman also offers a monthly newsletter, Mending Hearts, as well as audio CD’s, and books.

These can be accessed at www.drlaman.com.

To learn more about Dr. Laman’s work go to his blog at: wwwWholeHeartedCardiologist.com

CHAPTER ONE

Are You Stressed?

In April of 2008, the New York Times reported on a curious phenomenon that some were calling death by blogging. Three technology bloggers had suffered heart attacks within a couple of months and only one survived.

While no one was suggesting that the field of technology or the act of blogging led to these heart attacks, all three worked under conditions that demanded output nearly 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Smart phones, universal internet access and feather light laptops may be wonderful conveniences, but they also made it nearly impossible for these men to escape their jobs, even for a moment.

What is more puzzling is that these men appeared healthy to any outside observer. Their plight is shared by