Department of Internal Medicine UI Cardiologist Available to Discuss American Heart Association's New Guidelines on Women's Heart Care 2/5/2004 On Feb. 4, the American Heart Association (AHA) issued new evidence-based guidelines regarding the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of heart disease and stroke in women.
Theresa Brennan, M.D., UI assistant professor (clinical) of internal medicine at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, interventional cardiologist with UI Hospitals and Clinics and director of Clinical Cardiovascular Services at UI Heart Care, is available to discuss these new guidelines. Most cardiovascular studies have involved predominantly men; however, it has been unclear whether the results can be assumed to always apply to women. The AHA guidelines include a "generalizabilty index" for practitioners to use, among other criteria, to determine whether a particular treatment or prevention strategy should be used for a woman. Brennan can discuss how UI Heart Care experts already were using generalizability practices that are reflected in these new recommendations and how the guidelines may increase awareness of women's heart disease in both the lay and medical communities. This may result in better preventative care and likely more accurate and timely diagnosis of heart disease in women, Brennan says. In addition, Brennan can discuss how some women ignore the symptoms of heart attack, which can differ in women compared to men. To set up an interview with Dr. Brennan, contact her office at (319) 356-0607 or Becky Soglin at (319) 335-6660 or becky-soglin@uiowa.edu For more information about the AHA guidelines, see the news release at: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3018804 A pdf of the original research, which appears in Circulation, can be accessed at: http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/01.CIR.0000114834.85476.81v1.pdf |