Heart Disease
The leading killer of women.
ACOG NEWS RELEASE
| For Release: | May 10, 2005 |
| Contact: | ACOG Office of Communications |
| (202) 484-3321 | |
| communications@acog.org |
San Francisco, CA — Raising awareness about heart disease as the number one killer of women was the driving message at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ (ACOG) 53rd Annual Clinical Meeting today. ACOG President Vivian M. Dickerson, MD, sounded the alert that when it comes to heart disease-gender does matter. Contrary to persistent misconceptions, cardiovascular disease claims the lives of more women each year than of men.
“I am so passionate about women’s cardiovascular health that I’ve made it one of my presidential themes and a major focus of ACOG’s scientific program this year,” noted Dr. Dickerson. “Our message today to ob-gyns is one of awareness. As women’s health care physicians, we need to acknowledge the huge toll that heart disease takes on women and give it the attention it deserves,” she added.
Speaking at a news conference held at the Moscone Center, Dr. Dickerson pledged ACOG’s commitment to improving awareness that heart disease is a woman’s greatest health threat. With over 47,000 members, ACOG is the nation’s leading medical specialty society providing health care for women. “Largely preventable, heart disease kills nearly 500k000 women each year, yet it is still under-recognized, under-diagnosed, and under-treated,” she stressed.
“Ob-gyns are front-line physicians for women. In many cases the ob-gyn is the only doctor that a woman sees for her care,” Dr. Dickerson said. “It only stands to reason that our specialty should be mindful of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and encourage women to assess and reduce their risks by practicing heart-healthy lifestyles,” commented Dr. Dickerson.
Joining Dr. Dickerson at the press briefing were several speakers from the 6th Scientific Session, “Women and Cardiovascular Disease,” that is being held later today. “ACOG is extremely proud to partner with the American Heart Association (AHA) in this educational effort,” said Dr. Dickerson. “This program is a unique opportunity for our specialty to be informed about the latest research related to women’s cardiovascular health by leading experts in the field,” she added.
“The American Heart Association believes that a health care practitioner is first in the line of defense in the fight against heart disease in women,” said Alice K. Jacobs, MD, president, American Heart Association. “It is critically important that all health care professionals embrace our guidelines, especially those who treat primarily female patients, such as ob-gyn physicians. For this reason, we are honored to be joining with ACOG to continue to educate professionals about these guidelines for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in women.”
“Heart disease is very much a womans’s disease,” said ACOG Fellow Brian W. Walsh, MD,director of the division of surgical gynecology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA, and assistant professor of ob-gyn and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Walsh was part of the AHA working group that prepared the 2004 evidence-based guidelines for preventing heart disease and stroke in women. “These recommendations have clinically significant importance because they highlight the difference between men and women. They also should help influence women and health care professionals to take cardiovascular disease more seriously,” he noted.
“Women and their doctors should work together to know and understand what their individual risk level is in order to take steps to lower it. By knowing their blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose levels, and their body mass index, they will know their overall risk level for heart disease,” commented Dr. Walsh.
Putting a human face on heart disease as the leading killer of women was Kathy Kastan, a bypass survivor at age 42 and now president of the board of directors for WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease. “Heart disease is poorly understood in women. It doesn’t discriminate, and it doesn’t just happen to women who are older or overweight. I’m living proof of that,” noted Ms. Kastan, who also spoke during the press conference and scientific program.
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The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is the national medical organization representing over 47,000 members who provide health care for women.