KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Members of Executive Women International preview a new cardiac screening program at Queen's. This echocardiography machine generates an ultrasound image of the heart.
The Queen's Medical Center has opened a one-stop center to fight the No. 1 killer of women, cardiovascular disease. Queen’s opens
heart-lung center
aimed at womenBy Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.com
All of Queen's cardiac services have been pulled together to inform, diagnose and treat patients for heart problems. Services particularly are aimed at women.
"Women go and get mammograms every year because we're told to ... but in reality, if you look at the statistics, about 10 times more women die of cardiovascular disease every year than women die of breast cancer," said cardiologist Dr. Joana Magno.
More women also are dying of lung cancer than breast cancer, with lung cancer directly related to cigarette smoking exposure, she said.
The formal opening of the Queen's Heart Center will be held next month, timed with launching of an education and referral program called Women's Heart Advantage.
More than 30 hospitals nationally are collaborating with doctors to establish the program. It is aimed at reducing cardiovascular deaths through increased information, communications and lifestyle changes.
Cardiovascular disease encompasses heart attacks, hypertension, congestive heart failure, stroke, peripheral vascular disease and other heart, lung and blood vessel problems.
The Queen's center offers free heart screenings. Call 547-GIFT (4438) for an appointment.
"It's like a concierge service at the Ritz-Carlton," said Theo Edmonds, manager of the center (formerly the Heart Institute). "One phone call gets you where you need to be."
Satellite heart centers also may be established in communities with high-risk populations, he said.
Magno, physician for Women's Heart Advantage, said: "Most women know they're at risk for breast cancer and are afraid of dying of breast cancer. They really should be afraid of developing and dying of heart disease."
Twice as many women die each year of cardiovascular disease than from all forms of cancer, and there is a huge gender gap, she said: Death rates for women have been climbing while those for men have dropped since 1984.
Magno said a recent survey of American women's attitudes and awareness of cardiovascular disease showed 85 percent were at risk for heart problems, but only 30 percent recognized it.
Noting February is heart month, she said, "I've seen a lot of ladies with very serious coronary heart disease."
But doctors often discount typical symptoms in women, such as fatigue, nausea and breathlessness, she said.
"Guys are getting the benefit of primary and secondary prevention ... whereas for women there is no change. Even for women who have cardiovascular events, they're not getting the benefits of simple medications."
She said doctors must do a better job of identifying and treating symptoms, and women must understand signs of a heart attack.
A recent survey of American women's attitudes and awareness of cardiovascular disease showed 85 percent were at risk for heart problems, but only 30 percent recognized it, she said.
Magno said she sees a lot of people in their 20s and 30s with hypertension and older people with congestive heart failure.
Smoking, inactivity and obesity are major risk factors for heart disease, as well as stroke, she said. "More women are being debilitated by stroke than any other illness."
She said diabetes "is a boon to cardiologists" because it poses a serious risk for cardiovascular disease. Diet and exercise are essential to prevent and manage diabetes, she said.
About 65 members of the Honolulu chapter of Executive Women International received a dose of education about heart disease and free screenings in a recent preview of the Queen's Heart Center.
Edee Nakamura, agent with Pacific Guardian Life, said her father died of a heart attack at age 68, and her sister has heart problems. "I'm taking precautions," she said, explaining the free screening was an incentive to visit the heart center with the Executive Women members.
Janet Kosaka said the invitation "got my attention" because she lost family members to heart disease at ages 57 and 59. She recently sold Varsity Flowers, a business operated by her parents and herself for 45 years. Now she has a greenhouse and works "more peacefully" making dish gardens and flower baskets, she said. "No stress at Valentine's."
Edmonds said, "Everybody thinks about open heart surgery, which is an important part, but we talk about primary prevention -- catch it at the beginning. We can diagnose it in the lab and intervene and treat medically so you don't land in ER."
Queen's Medical Center
