|
Heart and vascular diseases are the greatest threat to women's health worldwide and most American women are unaware of their risk. An estimated 41 million American women live with these diseases and, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Texas has the third highest prevalence of women with heart disease, with over 600,000 women affected in 2004. Also known as cardiovascular diseases (CVD), they include heart attack, heart failure, strokes, peripheral artery disease and other diseases of the heart and circulatory system.
These diseases affect more women than men and are responsible for more than 40% of all deaths in American women. Many women who have a heart attack do not know it since they are not aware that symptoms in a woman are different than what are widely known as "heart attack symptoms" that apply to men. Heart attacks are generally more severe in women than men. Women can expect to live a large part of their lives with an increased risk of heart disease; and, 1 out of 4 women older than 65 has some form of heart disease.
What's more, a 2005 survey by the American Heart Association showed that only 8% of primary care physicians and 17% of cardiologists know about these gender differences.
Since treatment during or immediately following a heart attack significantly mitigates the resulting long term damage, accurately identifying symptoms in women is critical to the lifetime wellness of women. So too is identifying treatments that are most effective for women. While effective treatments are not understood, we do know that women have 50% more adverse drug reactions than men. Additionally, the trajectory of women's heart disease is distinct from that of men. Plaque builds up differently in women's arteries in a way that typical testing does not detect, and menopause significantly increases a woman's risk. Finally, little study has gone into effective prevention strategies for women. Treatment guidelines are developed from the medical literature, dictating the standard of care for all patients. However, less than 25% of those enrolled in the trials are women. Clearly it is time for a focused education and research effort to elucidate diagnosis, treatment and prevention of heart disease in women.
Target Audience
Cardiologists, gynecologists, primary care physicians, internal medicine physicians, family practitioners, endocrinologists and nurse practitioners.
Objectives
At the conclusion of this activity, the participant should be able to:
-
Cite the identification of cardiac risk factors in women;
-
Assess standard and specific lipid laboratory panels;
-
Review current guidelines for treatment of various dyslipidemias;
-
Make an overall cardiovascular risk stratification of female patients which will be used to guide preventative treatment strategies.
Program Schedule Highlights
Saturday–September 11
9:00 am Epidemiology of Coronary Heart Disease and Risk Factors in Women
Risk Assessment in Women: Evaluating Existing and Emerging
Cardiovascular Risk Scoring Systems
Stephanie Coulter, MD
9:20 The Epidemic of Obesity and Diabetes: Trends and Treatments
David Aguilar, MD
9:40 Dealing with Dyslipidemia: Guidelines and Newer Metrics:
non-HDL Cholesterol
Salim Virani, MD
10-10:15 Break
10:15 Hormones and Heart Disease
Stephanie Coulter, MD
10:35 Cardiac Disease in Pregnancy
Wayne Franklin, MD
11:00-12:15 Lunch with Ethics Lecture
TBD
12:15 pm Genetics of Coronary Heart Disease
Eric Boerwinkle, PhD
12:35 Peripheral Vascular Disease in Women
Eduardo Hernandez, MD
12:55 Congestive Heart Failure and Treatment in Women
Roberta Bogaev, MD
1:15 Cardiac Arrhythmias in Women
Amy Woodruff, MD
1:35 Stem Cell Therapies
Emerson Perin, MD
1:55 Question and Answer Session
2:15 Adjourn
| 
