Contact: Barbara Halpern
Phone: (202) 332-7353
Contact: Liz Shaw
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African-American Healthy Heart Month
Highlighting recent heart disease treatment findings, WATTSHealth Systems, Inc. responds to a "cardiovascular crisis" by combining the interests of Black History Month and American Heart Month
Washington, DC, February 5, 1998: WATTSHealth Systems, the largest community-based healthcare system of its kind, announced its plans today to designate February "African-American Healthy Heart Month." The announcement, which took place at the National Press Club, incorporated the missions of two long-standing February customs -- Black History Month and American Heart Month -- to emphasize the deadliness of cardiovascular disease within the African-American community and the latest medical advances for dealing with it.
"The leading cause of death among African-American men and women is not cancer, homicide, diabetes, accidents or AIDS. Add all of these together and they're still less deadly combined than the biggest killer of this population: cardiovascular disease," said Rodney C. Armstead, MD, FACP, Executive Vice President and Chief Health Officer, WATTSHealth Foundation, Inc./UHP-Healthcare. "We believe that February, a month in which we have traditionally honored both the unique contributions of African-Americans and the importance of heart health, is the perfect time to launch an educational initiative for confronting this crisis."
Representatives from the medical profession stressed the relevance of two recent findings in the treatment of heart disease. The first, which appeared in the December 1997 issue of the American Heart Association's Stroke, stated that although anticoagulation (blood thinning) medications* prevent up to 80% of strokes suffered by those who have atrial fibrillation, they are woefully under used in the patients who have this common irregular heart beat condition. The second finding, from the British journal Lancet, asserted that daily doses of aspirin and warfarin can reduce the incidence of first heart attacks by more than a third among men who are at risk for heart disease.
The research has particular relevance to the African-American community; when compared to their White counterparts, the rate of death from cardiovascular disease is 47.4% higher among Black men and 69.1% higher among Black women. In terms of specific cardiovascular diseases, African-American men are 94% more likely and African-American women are 77% more likely to die from stroke, and the death rate from high blood pressure is 361% higher for Black men and 370% higher for Black women.
African-American Healthy Heart Month is sponsored by WATTSHealth Systems, which serves over 200,000 residents of Greater Los Angeles through its community-based healthcare system and numerous non-profit programs. WATTSHealth Systems accepted a $25,000 grant from Barr Laboratories at the press conference, which it plans to use to support future educational initiatives.
*Coumadin(R) and Warfarin Sodium **Health statistics are based on findings from the American Heart Association
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