Director of Women's Heart Initiative Warns Women to Wake-Up to the Threat of Heart Disease

PHILADELPHIA, May 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The co-director of the Women's Heart Initiative at one of the leading healthcare systems in the Northeast says women must do more to identify the early signs of heart disease and be more aggressive in seeking treatment. Dr. Maribel Hernandez, Cardiologist/Electrophysiologist at Main Line Health's Lankenau Heart Center says recent comments by broadcaster Barbara Walters, who recently underwent heart surgery, underscore the severity of the problem facing women in the U.S.

(Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100520/PH07994 )

"Ms. Walters was exactly right when she said that most women continue to think of heart disease as a man's disease," said Dr. Hernandez. "The truth is heart disease kills one woman in this country every sixty seconds. That's five times more women who will die from heart disease than from breast cancer. A woman can spend much of her adult life making sure her family is healthy, but because she may neglect signs of heart disease, she ends up causing great pain to herself and the family she's always put first. As a cardiologist and a mom, I'm working at Lankenau Hospital every day to make women realize the truth about heart disease. Recognize the signs and seek immediate treatment – before it's too late."

As the premiere hospital network in Philadelphia, Main Line Health's nationally recognized Heart Center at Lankenau Hospital is putting women's heart health at the forefront of their care with the Women's Heart Initiative. Dr. Hernandez has made it her goal to educate women on the importance of heart health and to provide essential information and resources to help women adopt more heart-healthy lifestyles. In addition to being well-recognized in the Philadelphia region, Dr. Hernandez has been voted by her peers onto Philadelphia magazines prestigious 'Top Docs' list, and appeared on the cover of the May issue.

The goal of the Women's Heart Initiative is to educate and empower women to Learn, Act, Live – recognize the warning signs of heart disease and encourage them to have open discussions with their physicians about their heart care. As a leading Heart Center in the United States, Main Line Health's Lankenau Hospital recognizes their responsibility to educate and raise awareness among women of all ages about heart disease and how it affects them. Unlike other cardiovascular programs for women, the Women's Heart Initiative is uniquely focused on highly structured medical training for both physicians and nurses to help them recognize the often overlooked symptoms of heart disease in women.

About Lankenau Hospital

Lankenau Hospital, a member of Main Line Health, in suburban Philadelphia is one of the nation's leading heart centers. Lankenau has been named as a HealthGrades America's 50 Best Hospital™ for 2009, placing it in the top one percent of all hospitals in the nation for quality outcomes.

Media Contact:  Rebecca Catts,   717-232-5554, [email protected]

SOURCE Lankenau Hospital