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 St. Joseph launches new HeartSmart for Women program
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 Three of the four physicians serving as advisors for the newly launched St. Joseph HeartSmart for Women program appeared at the media kickoff Feb. 25 at Christopher's World Grille in Bryan. Left to right are Cynthia Jansky, M.D.; Suzanne Black, M.D.; and Anna Damian, M.D.
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BRYAN - Women's cardiac health has become one of the hot new national health topics based on information from studies indicating women are not well aware of their risk for heart disease. Thanks to a local effort, women throughout the Brazos Valley now have the opportunity to increase their awareness of risk factors for heart disease and identify the signs and symptoms of a heart attack. In February St. Joseph Heart Center launched the St. Joseph HeartSmart for Women program to improve education and awareness for women concerning cardiac health. The program will provide public educational messages and seminars to increase women's awareness, but it also encourages women to enroll in the St. Joseph HeartSmart for Women program to get additional information and allow women to participate in risk factor evaluations and programs aimed at reducing their risk of heart disease.
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There's no charge to enroll in the program, which offers educational information on women's heart issues, advance notice for seminars on women's health topics, a quarterly electronic HeartSmart newsletter and a HeartSmart enrollment card. The program will make use of information from a variety of sources, including the American Heart Association and the National Institutes of Health. A key component to St. Joseph HeartSmart is partnerships with local physicians to make sure women discuss cardiac health during annual checkups or other physician office visits. Recent national surveys indicate fewer than half of the women age 45 and over discussed cardiac health with their physician during in the past year. A panel of four local physicians serves as a resource for the program, providing guidance to the program's structure and offering educational information to the public. The panel includes: Suzanne Black, M.D. Family Practice; Anna Damian, M.D. Family Practice; Dr. David George, M.D., Internal Medicine; and Cynthia Jansky, M.D., OB/Gyn. "Heart disease is the number 1 killer in women," said Dr. Jansky. "For that reason, being aware of your risk factors for cardiac disease is very important. It enables you and your physician to better discuss and prevent - or diagnose and treat - this disease." Once enrolled in the St. Joseph HeartSmart for Women program, women have a variety of choices as to how actively they would like to be involved in their own personal cardiac health - from simply educating themselves on risk factors and signs and symptoms of a heart attack to personal awareness of their own risk factors by opting to have a risk factor profile completed for $60. Women may also choose to be involved in a variety of risk reduction and wellness programs. "The goal of the St. Joseph HeartSmart program is to improve the awareness and then improve the heart health of women in the Brazos Valley by providing them with clear, powerful information on their risk for heart disease," said Kori Rich, an Exercise Physiologist who manages the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program at St. Joseph Regional Rehabilitation Center and helped develop the St. Joseph HeartSmart Program options. For information or to enroll in the St. Joseph HeartSmart Program, go to their web site at sjheartsmart.org or call 821- 7589.
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