NEW YORK, Jan. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a genetic heart disease that creates a thickening of the heart wall muscle and is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in children and young adults (<40). More importantly, although heart disease is the number one killer in women, the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association (www.4HCM.org) warns women remain untreated for cardiac disease for decades, even though symptoms were identified earlier than their appropriately identified and treated male counterparts, according to the recent publication of a cohort of 1,228 HCM patients worldwide, in the Journal of Women's Health.
Advertisement
Of course it's vital to eat healthy, exercise, and reduce your risk factors by keeping your weight down, stop smoking, and get your blood pressure and cholesterol checked regularly. However, it's perhaps more important to become educated and aware of the three major masquerading symptoms that signal HCM, but are too often misdiagnosed for other ailments such as Depression -- mistaken for "just fatigue;" Panic attacks -- which produce heart palpitations; or, Asthma -- which results in shortness of breath.
Advertisement
Early HCM detection by pre-screening, plus education and awareness in the medical community, and public at large, continues to be a crucial life-saving message on behalf of the HCMA. Estimated to affect one in 500 North Americans, HCM can be detected and treated allowing patients to live long, productive lives. HCM is not an uncommon heart disease. In fact, it is nearly seven times more common than Cystic Fibrosis. Each year, over 1700 Americans will die from HCM. Over fifty percent will be under the age of fifty four.
HCMA is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization formed in 1996 to provide information, support and advocacy to patients, their families and medical providers. The HCMA is structured with medical advisors governing all of the medical content provided by the HCMA and a Board of Director governing the day-to-day operations and growth. The HCMA is supported by grants and donations.
Lisa Salberg, CEO and Founder of the HCMA. For more information about the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association log on to www.4HCM.org. To schedule an interview with Lisa Salberg, please call Lisa La Valle-Finan at 973-337-6895, or contact her via email at [email protected].
Contact: Lisa La Valle-Finan Contact: Lisa Salberg E: [email protected] E: [email protected] T: 973-337-6895 T: 973-983-7429
SOURCE Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association
