Tag: mayo clinic

Apply now for the WomenHeart Symposium at Mayo Clinic

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 4 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

Are you, or do you know, a woman living with heart disease who is interested in making a real difference to women’s heart health as a WomenHeart community educator?

Are you also at least six months past your last hospitalization for cardiac treatment, have your doctor’s written permission to travel, are very comfortable speaking in public, and want to start a WomenHeart Support Network in your home community?

If so, consider applying to attend a life-altering training event called the WomenHeart Science & Leadership Symposium at the world-famous Mayo Clinic, October 7-10 in Rochester, Minnesota.  Continue reading “Apply now for the WomenHeart Symposium at Mayo Clinic” →

Mayo Clinic’s ‘WomenHeart Science and Leadership Symposium’ featured in Time magazine

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 3 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

Two organizations very dear to my heart – literally – were featured last month in Time magazine’s Women and Health series. Both the world-famous Mayo Clinic and the not-for-profit organization called WomenHeart: The National Coalition For Women With Heart Disease were singled out because of a unique and life-altering program they host for women heart disease survivors. As a 2008 graduate of the annual WomenHeart Science & Leadership Symposium at the Mayo Women’s Heart Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, I was thrilled to see these two pioneering advocates for women’s heart health acknowledged by Time.

Each year, Mayo’s leading heart specialists welcome 50 heart disease survivors attending this 4-5-day Symposium.  I like to describe it as part world class cardiology training, and part community activism bootcamp.   Time magazine describes it like this:

♥ ♥ ♥

“The idea is to educate women and empower them to spread their newfound knowledge about women and heart disease in their home communities. That’s the point, says the Symposium’s leader, Dr. Sharonne Hayes, director of the Mayo Women’s Heart Clinic.

“When she and three heart disease patients came up with the original idea for the Symposium back in 2002, they had one goal: to awaken patients and doctors to the impact heart disease has on the 42 million North American women currently living with it — and the families of the millions more who did not survive.   Continue reading “Mayo Clinic’s ‘WomenHeart Science and Leadership Symposium’ featured in Time magazine” →

Mayo Clinic: “What are the symptoms of a heart attack for women?”

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 5 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

It’s been in the news. It’s been presented at cardiology conferences.  It has set cardiac circles and women heart attack survivors abuzz. It’s the question of whether women present with heart attack symptoms that are different than those of men.  The media attention surrounding the claims of this study conclusion has put women’s awareness of heart disease back a decade, in my opinion.  Continue reading “Mayo Clinic: “What are the symptoms of a heart attack for women?”” →

Health information online: how to tell the trash from the truth

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 6 Comments

1537583198_12623c05f6_m

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

One thing I’ve observed since my heart attack and accompanying obsession with All Things Cardiac: there is a lot of embarrassingly questionable trash out there on the internet.

And it’s not just all those badly written blogs flogging magical health products to vulnerable heart patients that make me cringe.  I have found snake-oil salesmen with the letters M.D. after their names pushing their own miracle-cure supplements on their self-promoting websites.  I’ve found fine print at the end of medical journal studies revealing that the lead authors are on the take from the drug company whose product is being ‘studied’.

This morning, I happened upon a ‘natural home remedy’ website that offered stupefyingly unfounded advice like:

“Drink lemon juice every day to prevent heart disease!”

Really?  Seriously?

Before you run out the door to buy more lemon juice, consider the Three D’s rule of evaluating all medical or health information you find on the internet:   click here to continue reading