Patient Plans "Pinot For Prevention" Parties To Raise Awareness Of Women's Heart Disease

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Cardiovascular / Cardiology;  Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 23 Dec 2007 - 0:00 PDT

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Evan McCabe wants every woman to know that heart disease not cancer is the number one killer of women. And she's counting on a glass of wine pinot noir, to be exact to help her get the point across.

McCabe, a registered nurse with a master's degree in nursing, is an associate professor of nursing at Santa Barbara City College. She also has heart disease, is a patient of cardiologist C. Noel Bairey Merz, M.D., at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and recently became an advocate for other women through WomenHeart, the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease. That's where her idea of Pinot for Prevention Parties was born.

Bairey Merz, Women's Guild endowed chair in Women's Health and medical director of the Preventive and Rehabilitative Cardiac Center at Cedars-Sinai, nominated McCabe and several other patients to receive grants from WomenHeart, based in Washington, D.C., to attend a four-day symposium at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Nearly 60 women from across the country participated, learning about cutting-edge research on heart disease in women and being coached on interview and presentation skills.

"We had a breakout session where we brainstormed how we can go back into our communities and make a difference by educating women about heart disease," says McCabe. "On the way home on the plane, I was thinking, what's important about Santa Barbara County? Tourism is number one, and number two is our wine industry. I thought, I'm going to go and talk to women's groups about prevention of heart disease my number one issue. Getting my foot in the door is talking about pinot noir."

Santa Barbara County has become well known for pinot noir, and anecdotal evidence suggests limited amounts of alcohol may be good for prevention of heart disease.

"Based on observational studies, not rigorous clinical trials, it looks like moderate consumption of alcohol may be beneficial. This may be up to one serving of alcohol per day for women and up to two servings per day for men," according to Bairey Merz, adding that a serving is defined as two ounces of hard liquor, six ounces of wine or 12 ounces of beer. All contain an equivalent amount of alcohol.

"The health advantage is maximized when alcohol is served regularly and with meals, so the answer to a common question is no, you should not have all of your weekly servings on Saturday night," says Bairey Merz. "It's also important to note that there clearly are some problems associated with alcohol, from drinking and driving to the fact that some people are genetically at risk of abuse. Be careful. Check with your health care provider, especially if you have a family history of alcoholism. The potential health benefits are not necessarily a reason to start drinking alcohol."

In addition to organizing parties, McCabe, who turns 51 on Dec. 12, is volunteering to speak to health care professionals and women's groups. Already, one woman who heard her presentation subsequently went to a cardiologist and was diagnosed with congenital heart disease.

Although McCabe had been to the emergency room twice earlier with chest pain, she was not diagnosed with heart disease until the first day of fall semester three years ago. A climb up a steep hill at the campus where she teaches brought on another episode, but she still waited a week to see a cardiologist, an example she urges others not to follow.

Whether in her presentations or at the informal gatherings, McCabe hopes participants will grasp and remember several points, including:

-- Heart disease is the number one killer of women. (Only 13 percent of women know this.)

-- Many women do not have symptoms until it is too late.

-- Women are likely to have different symptoms than men.

-- Women's complaints are often ignored or trivialized.

-- Keys for survival are early detection, accurate diagnosis and proper treatment.

-- Denial is a common response to the possibility of heart disease or any other serious condition.

"I was horrified when I got a diagnosis, as most women are," she says, adding that her nursing and teaching background did not prepare her for accepting reality. "The thought that I could have heart disease was just overwhelming."

Most people who hear about the Pinot for Prevention Parties first laugh, and then say, "Sign me up," McCabe reports with a chuckle. "I've been a cardiology nurse for 30 years, and it's alcohol that everyone's interested in."

But a good bottle of pinot noir can be costly. Therefore, she sometimes recommends that several participants pool their funds to buy one or two bottles. After all, the purpose of the party is not to overindulge but to allow women to sit and sip as they listen and learn about preventing and recognizing heart disease in women.

The first in Southern California and one of only 10 hospitals in the state whose nurses have been honored with the prestigious Magnet designation, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is one of the largest nonprofit academic medical centers in the Western United States. For 19 consecutive years, it has been named Los Angeles' most preferred hospital for all health needs in an independent survey of area residents. Cedars-Sinai is internationally renowned for its diagnostic and treatment capabilities as well as breakthroughs in biomedical research and superlative medical education. It ranks among the top 10 non-university hospitals in the nation for its research activities and is fully accredited by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs, Inc. (AAHRPP). Additional information is available at http://www.cedars-sinai.edu.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
8700 Beverly Blvd., Rm 2429A
Los Angeles, CA 90048
United States
http://www.cedars-sinai.edu