For Women Only - First of Its Kind Center for Womens Cardiac Health and Research

LONG BEACH, Calif., Feb. 13, 2009 –-The Memorial Heart and Vascular Institute at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center has opened the community’s first gender-sensitive heart care facility, the Center for Women’s Cardiac Health & Research. The center will offer individualized, cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor screening and symptom assessment exclusively for women.

“Heart disease is the no. 1 killer of women over age 25 and many women are not aware of this fact,” says Peggy Kalowes, RN, PhD, CNS, director of the Center for Women’s Cardiac Health & Research. “Women are different; they don’t experience a cardiac event in the same way as men.”

In fact, many women’s cardiac problems go undiagnosed because of the gender difference. A man may have a sharp pain signaling a cardiac event, but in a woman the signs can be more subtle; she may just feel tired for example, and not seek medical help immediately.

“Even though they have the risk factors, 80 percent of women have not had preventive care screenings,” says Kalowes.

Prevention is the best course of action and regular cardiac examinations can prevent heart attack and stroke. The Center for Women’s Cardiac Health & Research was established to give each woman the individualized care she needs through a cardiovascular risk reduction program designed solely for women - of all ages and ethnicities. The program includes delivery of advanced, innovative, multidisciplinary care using the newest non-invasive technology, research and medical treatment for women’s heart health.

Many assume breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women, but each year six times as many women die of CVD than breast cancer. CVD (heart disease and stroke) causes 43 percent of deaths in American women each year, more than one out of every three deaths. More than eight million women in the United States are afflicted with heart disease each year.

The Center for Women’s Cardiac Health & Research is located at the Memorial Heart and Vascular Institute at the Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and is a preventative cardiovascular program supported by a highly trained professional group of advanced practice nurses; board certified cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons, exercise physiologists and dieticians. The center offers gender-sensitive, individualized, cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor screening and symptom assessment. Call for your appointment now at (562) 933.2460, it may save your life.

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