Tai Chi For Health or Striking Back at Stroke

Tai Chi For Health: The 24 Simplified Forms

Author: Cheng Zhao

Tai Chi Chuan is a form of graceful and slow exercise. It is Chinese and old but still extremely popular. This is because people who practice it benefit from it greatly. Tai Chi brings tranquility and relaxation to the mind, nervous system, and the entire body; and consequently balances off the stress from today's busy life. The great health benefit from Tai Chi and its soft nature makes it the universal form of workout for people of all ages, strong or weak. The Simplified 24 Forms described in this book is a good starting point for learning this great art of exercise — a tranquil, comfortable, and graceful way of keeping healthy and fit.

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Striking Back at Stroke: A Doctor-Patient Journal

Author: Cleo Hutton

"At age 43, Cleo Hutton awoke to a frightening and completely unfamiliar world. In the prime of life, she experienced a devastating stroke. Suddenly unable to speak, understand, or even walk, Hutton found herself struggling first to survive and then to regain her physical skills and her independence." Striking Back at Stroke is Hutton's personal journal of this trying time, detailing her hard-won success rebuilding a life in ruins and overcoming difficulties she never imagined confronting. Hutton's account of her experiences is interwoven with medical and scientific commentary by the leading expert in the field, Louis Caplan, M.D., who explains Hutton's case in terms of what scientists and doctors have come to know about strokes. Caplan also focuses his observations on how the medical system served her, as well as on the shattering effects a stroke can have on the families of patients.

Publishers Weekly

Writing with Caplan, chief of Stroke Service at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Hutton, a journalist and former nurse, offers this self-help guide for stroke patients. Hutton writes from her own experience as a woman who suffered a debilitating stroke at the age of 43. Having kept a journal throughout her life, Hutton was determined to continue after her stroke-but first she had to re-learn to speak and write. Combining Hutton's journal entries with Caplan's response to and explanations of them, the book presents a kind of dialogue-a format that nicely suits the material. In one diary entry, Hutton explains a sense of confusion that prompted her to go to an emergency room: "I have a sharp, constant pain behind my eyes, and I find it difficult to focus my vision. The left side of my body is heavy...." Caplan responds, "Strokes... seldom occur out of the blue without cause or warnings." He then advises how to communicate these symptoms to doctors, and explains the types of stroke. Both author and doctor write in ancompassionate tone and thoroughly explain each step of a stroke, from its causes to rehabilitation. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

The third-leading killer as well as the leading cause of disability in the United States, stroke is not limited to older people; Hutton was a 43-year-old mother of three when she experienced her first severe stroke, leaving her disabled and unable to communicate. Although she had been a nurse, she didn't recognize the warning signs that had begun five years earlier. This book is a joint patient-doctor account in which Hutton and neurologist Caplan alternate voices, with Caplan contributing solid medical information and Hutton recounting her personal experiences before, during, and after her stroke. Caplan explains the two types of stroke and clearly describes how, depending on the location, they can affect the brain. He also explores the physical, mental, and personality changes that can occur. Hutton, meanwhile, powerfully conveys the emotional and financial impact that the stroke had on her family, revealing that her husband broke under the strain and ultimately requested a divorce. Families and caregivers of stroke patients should read this work for its medical expertise and coverage of the emotional issues. For most consumer health collections.-Janet M. Schneider, James A. Haley Veterans' Hosp., Tampa, FL Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.