Heart to Heart Health

"We wanted to provide a place for women to start learning their personal health information and to seek follow-up care if necessary," she said. "Most importantly, we want people to understand what their current health status is. Women tend to fall into two extremes: very active or very sedentary. Heart disease and heart attack can happen to either group. Several years ago, we had a cardiac nurse who was a marathon runner present with an MI. You can't just look at what you do and think you're safe."

While the clinic was designed to empower women to take responsibility for their own health, White noted an ongoing goal is to educate women, healthcare professionals and the community on the prevalence of heart disease in women.

"Most women have at least one abnormality in their test results," she said. "More than half have high cholesterol, but statistics show only one in four women know what theirs is. If we checked this at an early age, we could have a substantial decrease in risk factors."

Hallstrom said women come in by appointment, but no physician's referral is needed. All are welcome, and the information gleaned from the testing will be sent to the women's personal physicians regardless of where they practice.

Follow-Up Care
By helping women learn their susceptibility and by providing guidance on lifestyle, nutrition and exercise modifications, the Women's Heart Center brings hope to women at risk. White said risk factors such as smoking, stress, diabetes, menopause, family history of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure or high cholesterol, little or not enough exercise, and carrying even 20 extra pounds makes a difference. Addressing those factors with professional help can go a long way.

"The first step toward prevention is education and information," Hallstrom said. "When women understand their risk goes up based on lifestyle and that they can lower the risk by changing their lifestyle, that's a great first step."

Candy Goulette is regional editor at ADVANCE.