Fighting Heart Disease, BWH Style- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
Fighting Heart Disease, BWH Style- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
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July 6, 2001
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In This Issue:
Beyond Bread and Butter
Fighting Heart Disease, BWH Style
Come Enjoy the Festivities
Research Round-up
BWH’s New Stroke Team
Let the Renovations Begin
Staff Survey Ice Cream Social
“How can we empower women to take charge of their health and fight heart disease,” asks BWH cardiologist Paula Johnson, MD. The answer to that very question is the mission of BWH’s Center for Cardiovascular Disease in Women, the brainchild of Johnson (pictured). The new center leads the charge in Boston against cardiovascular disease in women. Johnson sees the center as a catalyst to educate women of all ages—especially young women—about lifestyle choices that harm hearts and blood vessels, from obesity and smoking to lack of exercise. Through research, Johnson and other BWH cardiologists hope to develop new and more effective prevention, treatment and rehabilitation strategies. “As the leaders in women’s health research for more than a decade, BWH scientists have found numerous differences in risk factors and treatment associated with women compared to men. Such findings have laid the foundation for this new center,” said Johnson. One of the center’s projects on the near horizon involves cardiac rehabilitation. “Prior research suggests that women are not referred to rehabilitation as often as men, and once they get there, they drop out more frequently,” said Johnson. According to Johnson, the center’s pilot cardiac rehabilitation program will help determine whether or not telemedicine technology can be used to more effectively address a woman’s unique medical needs to help her get better quickly. Another area of focus for the center will be the prevention of first and recurrent heart attacks in African-American women, who are 50 percent more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than their Caucasian counterparts. “We are specifically going to focus on African-American women, whose death rates at a young age in some area communities are two to three times higher than Caucasian women,” said Johnson. “The question then becomes, ‘how do we effectively alert Africa-American women in these communities that heart disease is indeed preventable, and that they can play a vital role in the prevention?’,” added Johnson, who is planning focus groups fostering open discussions to help discover which preventative measures or treatments best fit into women’s lives. In addition to being the director of Quality Management at BWH, Johnson is a practicing cardiologist at BWH and intends to weave a practice element into the center as well. For learn more about BWH’s Center for Cardiovascular Disease in Women, call ext. 2-8985.