|
|
|
Greetings,
Heart Sisters and Friends!
Beginning with National Wear Red Day® Friday, February
5, 2010, millions of people helped spread the word that heart disease
is women's #1 killer. The Red Dress®, the national symbol for women and
heart disease awareness, was created by The Heart Truth® in 2002 to
deliver an urgent wakeup call to American women. For this reason,
February was the busiest month ever for the Women's Heart Foundation with
a Red Dress luncheon set for Feb 6. The best laid plans had to be
postponed however, due to a blizzard that left two feet of ice mixed
with snow. Although we celebrated a week later, it didn't ice our
spirits and we enjoyed a marvelous day with good food and good friends.
Ninety attendees, 12 exhibitors, a Red Dress Trunk Show by Lord and
Taylor, survivors' stories, an awards ceremony and a keynote
presentation by John E. Strobeck, MD, PhD - "Introducing the
Multifunction Cardiogram (MCG)" - made for an exciting event.
Audience members were blown away with the simplicity of the MCG tool.
Dr. Strobeck revealed he has been using the MCG technology in his
practice since 2007 to more easily diagnose heart disease. It's quick,
easy to use, inexpensive and extremely accurate. What's more, it is
completely risk-free. The MCG represents a major breakthrough in modern
medicine and in diagnosing ischemic heart disease. It is what we have
all been waiting for. A 4-minute tracing of the heart takes place that
is similar to an Electrocardiogram (ECG), but it is not an ECG. The MCG
is an extremely sensitive device with a built-in computer. The local
MCG computer communicates your reading to a much larger computer over
the internet. The reading is then analyzed at a data center to compare
it to 50,000 others. The results are then sent over the web to your
practitioner's email in-box. You and your practitioner receive a full
report in just 10 minutes! As I am turning 60 this year, I am reminded
of the fact that both of my parents underwent heart bypass surgery at
age 60, and only one of them survived. My father made it through the
surgery, but not without complications of impaired cognitive
functioning that worsened over time, and my mother died on the
operating room table. So, as you may have guessed, my #1 New Year's
resolution is to have an MCG to help fight my #1 health risk: heart
disease. Everyone in our audience expressed interest and hope that this
machine will soon become available nationwide. It has been in use in many
European countries for years. The test results will answer that
formidable question -- "How's my heart?" Health professionals
may want to view the article below to familiarize themselves with this
new technology, with website links to a video presentation by Dr.
Strobeck. Medicare and Medicaid have set forth guidelines for
reimbursement of the MCG test. Incidentally, the U.S. News and World
Report rated the Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, New Jersey - where Dr.
Strobeck practices cardiology - as one of the best hospitals in the
country. The hospital is part of the Columbia Presbyterian Medical
Center network of hospitals in New York. Perhaps offering the MCG test
is one reason why the Valley Hospital earned this esteemed designation.
Congratulations to Dr. Strobeck and to the Valley Hospital for this
achievement.
Next month, we will be introducing updates to our Medication Safety
program. Medication Safety Week is April 1-7. Follow the 7 focus days
for guidelines when taking medicines.
Please support our mission and make a tax-deductible donation today at www.womensheart.org.
Our future for becoming a healthier nation depends on it. Donate today.
Janice
Kovach, WHF trustee
Co-chair of The Red Dress Luncheon 2010
Bonnie Arkus, RN
Executive Director and Founder, holding Luncheon invite
The Women's Heart Foundation, a 501c3 charity, is
the only non-governmental organization implementing heart disease
prevention projects. Founded 1989 and incorporated June 11, 1992,
WHF is dedicated to prevention, survival and quality of life. Please
support our mission and make a tax-deductible donation today at www.womensheart.org
|
|
|
The Gender
Care Initiative®- Introducing the Multifunction CardioGram as a new way
to diagnose ischemic heart disease without bias
Coronary Artery
Disease or "CAD" has always been a tough disease to diagnose
without the use of invasive or stressful activities. The development of
the Multifunction Cardiogram (MCG) has changed the way CAD is
diagnosed. The MCG consists of a 2 lead resting EKG signal is
transformed into a mathematical model and compared against tens of
thousands of clinical trials to diagnose a patient with an objective
severity score, as well as secondary and tertiary results about the
patients condition. The results from MCG tests have been validated in 8
clinical trials which resulted in a database of over 50,000 patients
where the system has demonstrated accuracy comparable to coronary
angiography (90% overall sensitivity, 85% specificity). This level of
accuracy comes from the application of advanced techniques in signal
processing and systems analysis combined with a large scale clinical
database which allows MCG to provide quantitative, evidence-based
results to assist physicians in reaching a diagnosis. The MCG has also
been awarded a Category III CPT code by the American Medical
Association in the July 2009 CPT update. The MCG test results are
completely objective and unbiased. more
Pictured above: John E. Strobeck, MD, PhD, FACC, delivers keynote
presentation at the Women's Heart Foundation Red Dress Luncheon Feb 13,
2010 "Introducing the Multifunction Cardiogram". Click on photo to view
enlarged image.
|
Women's Heart
Advocate - award winners
 
Joseph T. Shen,
MD is a brilliant mathematician who is also a cardiologist and concert
pianist. Twenty five years ago, Dr. Shen had an idea that mathematical
algorithms could be developed based on ECG readings of patients about
to undergo revascularization procedures, thereby advancing technology
for all of mankind. The invention of the Multifunction Cardiogram was
the result - a device used to diagnose ischemic heart disease
objectively, at a fraction of the cost of traditional tests, and
without any risk or gender bias whatsoever. Dr. Shen was recognized
with the Women's Heart Advocate Award for Leadership in Science and
Medicine.
Joan Hollendonner is a Grants Manager of The Horizon Foundation for New
Jersey (the Foundation) who attended the Red Dress Luncheon as a
representative of the Foundation. The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey
was recognized with the Women's Heart Advocate Award for Healthcare
Leadership, supporting the Teen Esteem program for prevention and
wellness.
Women's Heart
Champion - award winners
Meet heart
disease survivors and Champions (L to R) Marianne DiMola, Terri Barlow
and Marcia Davis.
Click
here for more photos and story.
|
|
WHF awarded a
$10,000 grant from Princeton Area Community Foundation (PACF)
The Women's
Heart Foundation was awarded a $10,000 grant for the 5th consecutive
year from the PACF to continue its Teen Esteem Health and Fitness
program at Trenton Central High. WHF co-administers the intervention
project for at-risk teen girls. The program entered its 6th year this
past September and has consistently resulted in participants making
better health choices and remaining in school to graduate. The PACF
motto is "promoting philanthropy to advance the well-being of our
communities forever."
|
Raising Heart
Fit Kids Does your child have
a heart-healthy lifestyle? WHF's new bookmark for parents and kids is
designed to help raise awareness of early risk factors for heart
disease and how to avoid certain risks. The health message also relates
to a new website about to be launched that is dedicated to helping
schools better track the health status of their student population. The
HeartFitKid.org website will officially launch in late spring 2010.
Bookmarks and posters are now available. Several schools have begun
disseminating the WHF bookmarks and posters that fit together nicely
with the "Be Well" booklet from the Susan and Michael Dell
Foundation. The Millville Women's Club took part in underwriting the
cost of bookmarks for students in the Millville middle school. For
information on how to order HeartFitKid bookmarks or posters, contact us.
|
|
|
"Must Read" list for 2010
There
are two new enlightening books that are easy reads for consumers of
health care. These books promote accepting responsibility for one's
own health and offer some exciting new ways to take care of your
heart and your health.
- "Knockout"
by Suzanne Somers. In this book, Ms. Somers talks about her
recent near-death episode and interprets this as a learning
experience. She seeks out those health experts trying to improve
cancer care by incorporating a more "whole health"
approach. Questioning the status quo, she uncovers political,
social and financial gain for keeping patients on track of
receiving oft-times ineffective chemotherapy agents that can do
more harm than good. Ms. Somers is applauded by the medical
leaders she interviewes in her book for her courageous attempt
to improve patient care. She also interviews cardiologist Dr.
Steven Sinatra, and discusses her own personal health plan that
includes use of bio-identical hormones (hormones that occur
naturally in the human body and that are not from a
pharmaceutical company, claiming this maximizes her health to
fight both heart disease and cancer while helping to maintain
her youthful looks, figure and level of energy. Ms. Somers does
an outstanding job in chronicling her journey and in advocating
for patients' rights to self determination through the power of
education and personal choice. Ridding the body of toxins,
promoting drainage within the body and reducing inflammation are
all key to avoiding the two top killers responsible for
premature death: cancer and heart disease.
- "The Eat-Clean
Diet" by Tosca Reno. This colorful and insightful book
discusses a healthy lifestyle through the eyes of Ms. Reno with
practical advice on "Eat-Clean" foods and avoiding
toxic foods, toxic environments and toxic relationships. She
shares her personal journey in fighting obesity as if she were
sitting across the table from you, sipping a cup of green tea. A
good read and great for any parent looking for supportive ways
to intervene with an overweight or underweight child. It comes
complete with delicious recipes, menu planning, ways to renovate
your metabolism and grocery shopping tips with a list of
"super foods" - nutrient-dense foods that we should be
eating every day.
|
|
|
- Women's Heart
Foundation is on ShesConnected.com
open discussion groups on women's heart disease.
- Women's Heart
Foundation is on MySpace
- Women's Heart
Foundation and Friends' Health Connection join to help you Find a Heart Friend
- Click here to
attend a Minky Party-NJ. Get help from a leading fitness nurse to
make healthy lifestyle changes
- Click here to
set up a $30 Women's Heart Risk assessment at the Women's Heart
Center of St. Joseph's Medical Center NJ
- Click here
to learn about women's heart disease from the expert nurse
educators at Heart-Strong.com
|
|
|
Volunteer
Corner Robin Heston was recently
recognized as Volunteer of the Year for her outstanding contributions
to the Women's Heart Foundation and serving as Chair of the Run for
Mom event for the past 6 years. Robin has also organized jewelry
collection campaigns to sell refurbished items to benefit the WHF.
She is a leading Women's Heart Advocate in our state and I am proud
to call her my friend. THANK YOU, Robin, for caring for the hearts of
the women in New Jersey!
|
|
|
Forward email
|
|
|
|
|
Women's Heart Foundation | 1901 N. Olden Avenue, Suite 6A | Trenton |
NJ | 08618
|
|
|
|
