New Web Site Helps Patients Navigate Heart Disease Treatment Options
Posted on: Friday, 2 November 2007, 09:00 CDT
WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), the leading professional organization for interventional cardiology, announced the launch of Seconds Count, a patient education program designed to fill an unmet need for an authoritative resource about cardiovascular disease and treatment. The program will debut at the American Heart Association (AHA) Annual Meeting in Orlando from November 4-7, 2007.
When a heart attack occurs, every second counts. Within minutes after onset of a heart attack, the heart muscle begins to die. The most important time to save heart muscle and lives is within the first 90 minutes. But not everyone knows the symptoms of a heart attack, or whether they're at risk. Until now, heart patients and their families have had to sort through multiple news sources and conflicting information to stay informed.
"When you're having a heart attack, interventional cardiology can save your life. Time is extremely limited and immediate treatment is crucial," said Bonnie Weiner, M.D, President of SCAI and Professor of Medicine and Interim Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine at St. Vincent Hospital at Worcester Medical Center in Worcester, MA. "At seconds-count.org, we help patients and their families understand what interventional cardiology is all about and provide credible, current information on heart attacks, heart disease and treatment options."
Heart patients and their families can visit http://www.seconds-count.org/ to learn about their diagnosis and the various therapies available, including angiography, angioplasty and stenting, and bypass surgery. The Web site is part of a larger public education initiative in development that includes information for referring physicians. Resources include:
-- Comprehensive information about the heart and cardiovascular disease, including the different warning signs of a heart attack in men and women -- Questions to ask your or your family member's doctor -- Treatment options available for your condition -- Latest news on heart attack, interventional cardiology procedures and treatments -- Physician locator to find an interventional cardiologist in your area -- First-hand accounts of patients with heart disease who have undergone interventional procedures -- An interventional cardiologist's blog that addresses current topics in heart disease
An estimated 15.8 million Americans have heart disease. While the chances of survival are far better today than ever before, heart disease remains the number one killer in the United States. Each year, interventional cardiologists perform procedures (percutaneous coronary intervention, or PCI) on about 800,000 Americans to re-open arteries in the heart that have become narrowed or blocked due to a build-up of fatty deposits, cholesterol or plaque.
"The wide variety of information on heart disease can be confusing and conflicting, and patients are left not knowing who to trust or what to believe," continued Dr. Weiner. "Our responsibility is to provide a credible, authoritative site specific to interventional cardiology that helps patients understand their condition and treatment options, and allows them to have a more meaningful discussion with their physicians about their care."
The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions is a 4,000-member professional medical society whose mission is to provide excellence in invasive and interventional cardiovascular medicine. SCAI has undertaken this public education initiative with its own resources as well as support from Abbott Vascular, Boston Scientific Corporation, Cordis Corporation, and Medtronic CardioVascular. The Society gratefully acknowledges this support while taking sole responsibility for all content developed and disseminated through this effort.
Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions
CONTACT: Kathy Boyd David of SCAI, +1-717-422-1181, kbdavid@scai.org; orKristen Thistle of Weber Shandwick, +1-952-250-4293,kthistle@webershandwick.com, for SCAI
Web site: http://www.seconds-count.org/
Source: PRNewswire
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