February is Heart Month

logcabinmama · February 2, 2006

There are so many people out there who have no idea that they have a heart problem. Then of course there are others who do. There are so many things that happen due to things that happen in our lives, people end up with heart disease, one never knows if it will happen to them.

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You will find the following and more at:

http://www.4imprint.com/EXEC/BOUTIQUE/~BSI...Heart+Month.htm

February is American Heart Month

Promote a happy heart and a healthy lifestyle with promotional products from 4imprint!

While traditionally seen as a male health issue, heart disease affects both men and women and is our nation’s leading cause of death. 1 in 3.7 men will lose their life to heart disease or stroke; 1 in 2.4 women will. While breast cancer is currently in the spotlight, it is important to note that breast cancer kills only 1 in 29 women.

Education is critical. Heart disease is largely preventable. Along with avoiding tobacco and alcohol, encourage exercise. 4imprint offers pedometers, yoga mats and even a multi-function jump rope that can be imprinted with your company logo or American Heart Month message. Get others on the road to healthy eating by giving them our Heart Smart Recipe Book (#6591).

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Here is another site to find more information:

http://yalenewhavenhealth.org/healthnews/n...observances.htm

February 2006

American Heart Month

Did you know that nearly 500,000 women die every year from cardiovascular diseases? This month, "Go Red for Women" with the American Heart Association and share education and concern for those who suffer from heart problems. Check out the American Heart Association Web site to learn more or visit our resource pages.

Children's Dental Health Month

Join the American Dental Association this month in observance of dental health for our children. The cause will be promoted at local and state events by the ADA in an effort to prevent cavities, promote flossing and brushing, the importance of tobacco cessation, and more. To learn more visit the American Dental Association or our resource pages.

Burn Awareness Week

Celebrated the first full week in February, this week was begun in order to raise awareness for burn research, treatment and prevention. The focus of this event is on youth burn victims, but all ages are considered. The primary mission for the week is early warning and smoke detection, planning fire escape routes for you and your family and fire prevention techniques. Contact your local burn center or click here for more information.

Kid's E.N.T. Awareness Month

Ear, nose and throat disorders can lead America's 79 million children toward behavioral and developmental problems if they are not properly corrected. Common childhood disorders like nose bleeds, earaches, sleep apnea and sinusitis can develop to more life-threatening defects in our adult lives. For more information on E.N.T. Awareness, click here or visit the American Academy of Otolaryngology.

Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week (February 7-14)

Throughout this week join an international effort of people, support groups and healthcare professionals to bring the public spotlight onto the topics of congenital heart defects and childhood heart disease. Visit the Congenital Heart Information Network to learn more.

Child Passenger Safety Week (February 12-18)

Did you know over half of all the children that die in a car crash each year are unrestrained? Automobile accidents are the number-one cause of death in children ages 4-14. Help protect your children by learning ways to restrain them on every car ride and how to properly install car safety seats.

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Homesteader · February 3, 2006

Thanks for the reminder Snow.

I read an article in the newspaper yesterday about how it is often more difficult to diagnose heart problems in women. Alot of the time women's artery blockages do not show up in regular tests. Please be vigilant if you have any symptoms. (And even if you don't!)

logcabinmama · February 9, 2006

http://www.womenheart.org/

Here is just a small amount of what you will find at this web site.

Heart News

Sibling's Heart Disease

Raises Risk

Risk Factor Scoring Misses

One-Third of At-Risk Women

Implantable Defibrillators

Equally Effective in Women

New CPR Guidelines

Blood Pressure News

Bypass Surgery News

Cholesterol News

Heart Failure News

News Archives

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This is just one of the articals you will find.

Women Benefit From Implantable Defibrillators As Much As Men Do

Main Category: Cardiovascular/Cardiology News

Article Date: 25 Dec 2005 - 22:00pm (UK)

Women who have had a heart attack get as much survival benefit as men from implanted cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), devices designed to monitor the heart's pumping rhythm and shock it back to normal when needed, according to a study published in the December edition of the Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology.

ICDs are designed to counter arrhythmias, electrical malfunctions that throw the heart out of rhythm and are a major cause of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in 450,000 Americans each year. Many confuse SCD with heart attack, a crisis brought on when a blocked artery damages heart muscle. The two problems come together when scar tissue left behind by a heart attack interferes with the heart's electrical system, bringing on arrhythmia.

Beta blockers in combination with ACE-inhibitors and statins are the treatment of choice for heart attack survivors, but fail to reduce risk of arrhythmia in many cases. ICDs have been gaining ground since the 2002 MADIT II study (Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial II) found that the devices could reduce mortality by 31 percent in patients who had a heart attack. Led out of the University of Rochester Medical Center, the landmark study changed medical guidelines nationwide and made a hundred thousand heart attack survivors eligible for ICD therapy.

Some experts have since questioned, however, whether the ICD benefit extends to women, who were underrepresented in past studies and continue to be undertreated for heart disease in general, according to the American Heart Association. Until now, little data has been available to either support or debunk their use specifically in women. To address the gap, researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center re-analyzed the MADIT II data, pulling out the data on women comparing the effects of ICD therapy in women and men.

The analysis found that women have similar risk of both overall mortality and SCD following heart attack as men. The study also found that both genders get a similar benefit from ICD therapy, which reduced mortality risk in women by an estimated 43 percent, and in men by 34 percent.

"Studies show that women received just 9,000 of 46,000 ICDs implanted in 2001," said Wojciech Zareba, M.D., Ph.D., lead author on the study and associate professor of Medicine (Cardiology) within the Cardiology Unit at the medical center. "Some physicians may be biased, perceiving that women have a lower cardiac mortality rate. Our study provides evidence that this perception needs to change if we are to better prevent sudden death in women after their heart attack."

Study Details

In the current MADIT II re-analysis, researchers evaluated the risk of cardiac events and effects of ICD therapy in women as compared to men enrolled in MADIT II. Specifically, data has been limited until now regarding ICD therapy in women whose heart attack has left them with severe injury to their left ventricle, the chamber of the heart that contracts to force oxygen-filled blood into the aorta and out to the rest of the body. Left-ventricular ejection fraction, a measure of the left ventricle's pumping capacity and efficiency, is often reduced by damage to the heart's walls.

When published in 2002, the MADIT II trial led to a change in the treatment guidelines published by a joint committee of the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association and the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophyiology. The guideline states that heart attack survivors with an ejection fraction of less than 30 percent are recommended for an ICD implant for primary prevention of sudden cardiac death (SCD). About 10 percent to 15 percent of the 1 million annual U.S. heart attack survivors meet the MADIT II criteria, making them candidates for an implant.

Among 1,232 patients enrolled in the original MADIT II trial, 192 (16 percent) were women and 1,040 (84 percent) men. All patients had had at least one heart attack more than one month prior to enrollment and an ejection fraction less than 30 percent. Those with existing ICD indications, heart attack within the past month or coronary revascularization (e.g. stent implant) within the past three months were excluded.

Enrolled patients were randomly assigned to receive either an ICD (n = 742) or conventional medical therapy (n = 490), which consisted of administering beta-blockers, ACE-inhibitors, and statins in most of the patients. Clinical and demographic data collected included information on gender.

The primary endpoint of MADIT II was all-cause mortality. Secondary endpoints for this analysis included sudden cardiac death, categorized patients randomized to conventional therapy, and appropriate therapy for ventricular fibrillation (VF) in patients randomized to ICD therapy. Ventricular fibrillation is a frequently fatal form of arrhythmia characterized by rapid twitching of the ventricles, resulting in a loss of pulse.

The two-year cumulative mortality in patients randomized to non-ICD conventional therapy was 30 percent in women and 20 percent in men, but those figures were not statistically significant (P = 0.19). Hazard ratios, statistical measures of difference in survival rate when comparing patients with versus without ICDs, were similar in women (0.57; 95% CI=0.28-1.18; P=0.132) and in men (0.66; 95% CI=0.48-0.91; P = 0.011), according to the new analysis.

The difference between hazard ratios was not statistically significant (P=0.72) indicating similar effectiveness of ICD therapy in men and women. In the ICD treatment arm, the two-year mortality rate was found to be 16 percent in both men and women and the risk of life-threatening arrhythmias was also similar in men and women (28% and 21%, respectively).

Greg Williams

Greg_Williams@urmc.rochester.edu

University of Rochester Medical Center

http://www.urmc.rochester.edu

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Another site with information on it:

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jht...ntifier=1200000

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There is a lot of information on this site too,

http://heart.healthcentersonline.com/cholesterol/?WT.srch=1

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And yet another interesting site.