At Boston Atrial Fibrillation Symposium 2010, Dr. Andrea Russo talked about gender differences in atrial fibrillation treatment, including catheter ablation, as well as women and the risk of stroke from afib.
Watch the video:
Interview with Dr. Andrea Russo at Boston Atrial Fibrillation Symposium 2010
If you’re near Hickory, NC, and want to learn how women can avoid heart disease and stroke, the #1 and #3 killers, please come hear Mellanie True Hills, CEO of StopAfib.org, on February 27.
Mellanie will be keynoting at the Day of Dance for Health, which is sponsored by Frye Regional Medical Center in Hickory, NC, and powered by the Spirit of Women hospital network. You’ll find more info at:
StopAfib.org CEO Mellanie True Hills Keynotes Day of Dance for Health in Hickory, NC
February is Heart Month. To kick if off, on Friday, February 5 we celebrate National Wear Red Day® when Americans nationwide wear red to show their support for women’s heart disease awareness.
This event is co-sponsored by the American Heart Association; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; Office on Women’s Health of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and WomenHeart.
To learn more, visit:
Mellanie True Hills, CEO of StopAfib.org, is keynoting the Women’s Power Pulse Luncheon and Expo on February 12, 2010, at the McAllen Convention Center in McAllen, TX. The Women’s Power Pulse Luncheon & Expo is sponsored by Doctors Hospital at Renaissance.
Mellanie provides a message of hope and encouragement, sharing how to take control, decrease stress, and protect against heart disease. She will also talk about atrial fibrillation during this Heart Month event.
For more information on the event, including how to register, see Women’s Power Pulse Luncheon on 02-12-2010
This very important story may change how afib patients and their doctors decide if they should be on anticoagulant medications (blood thinners), such as Coumadin or warfarin.
The CHADS2 scoring system is how doctors now decide who should be on Coumadin or warfarin to avoid strokes, but a newly-published study adds new stroke risk factors that are not considered in CHADS2.
These new risk factors, including being female, having heart or vascular disease, and being age 65 or greater (CHADS2 uses 75 or greater), have been incorporated in a scoring system called the “2009 Birmingham Schema” (CHA2DS2-VASc). This new approach enhances the existing CHADS2 system, giving two points to definitive stroke risk factors and one point to combination stroke risk factors.
To learn more, read: New Stroke Risk Factors for Those with Atrial Fibrillation: Female Gender, Heart Disease, and Age
In a newly-published study, diabetes was found to be an independent risk factor for atrial fibrillation in women, increasing their risk of afib by 26%. The connection was not as strong for men, who were more at risk of obesity and high blood pressure from diabetes.
Read more: Diabetes Increases a Woman’s Risk of Atrial Fibrillation
To help raise awareness of afib for Atrial Fibrillation Awareness Month, Jennifer Leggio (@mediaphyter), well-known ZDNet Social Business blogger, shared what it’s like for a young person to live with afib, having been diagnosed with it in her twenties.
Read: From the heart, about the heart: Living with afib
We know that more men than women have atrial fibrillation, but that women have a higher rate of strokes and death. In fact, women account for about 61% of stroke deaths.
Recent research at Rush University Medical Center identified nine specific gender differences between women and men who have atrial fibrillation. Those included that women have a higher incidence of stroke and death, higher risk of life-threatening arrhythmias due to hormones, sensitivity to statin drugs and others, and failure to receive blood thinners (Coumadin®, warfarin) and afib treatments such as ablation. Each difference has implications for the management and treatment of women with atrial fibrillation. Read more at:
Women with Atrial Fibrillation Have a Higher Risk of Stroke and Death
Mellanie True Hills, CEO of StopAfib.org, will keynote Indiana Heart Hospital’s A Moment for Me Luncheon in Indianapolis, IN on Saturday, January 31, 2009. She will be speaking on Heart Choices: A Woman’s Guide to Saving Her Own Life. For more information…
Read: StopAfib.org CEO Mellanie True Hills Keynotes Indianapolis Women & Heart Disease Event 1/31/09
Are you on bisphosphonates, such as Fosamax, Boniva, Actonel, or Reclast, to prevent osteoporosis, or are you considering them? If you have atrial fibrillation, or could be at risk for it, this new study will be of interest to you.
While this study found absolute risk of atrial fibrillation to be low, bisphosphonates may lead to serious atrial fibrillation, that requiring hospitalization or causing death.
Read: Osteoporosis Medications May Increase Rate of Atrial Fibrillation
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