- prevention.com/health/health-concerns/heart-attacks-women-three-shocking-surprising-stories
- prevention.com/health/health-concerns/heart-attacks-7-heart-tests-can-save-your-life
- prevention.com/health/health-concerns/heart-attack-7-signs-youre-having-heart-attack
- prevention.com/health/health-concerns/preventing-heart-disease-truth-about-statins
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
February, 2011
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
This 22-page special report on the #1 killer of women–heart disease–combines the latest research on early detection and screening, surprising risk factors, treatment, heart attack symptoms women often don’t recognize, and action steps if you think you’re having a heart attack with the dramatic stories of 6 women in their 40s who had unexpected–and potentially preventable heart attacks–and a strong message of advocacy to improve women’s heart disease healthcare. Among the significant findings/insights are: Women often dangerously underestimate their risk for heart attacks (in fact, many still believe that breast cancer is a greater threat than heart disease), that the traditional stress test has a high rate of misleading results for women, that while there’s controversy about the benefits of statins for women, at least one of these medications has been shown to decrease cardiac events more significantly in women than in men, and that every year, 50,000 more women than men die from heart disease. The article also offered an in-depth look at newer screening methods, including carotid intima-medial thickness, genetic tests and the strong link between high blood sugar and heart attack risk.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
The stories required extensive research, including reviewing numerous medical studies and reports on such topics as the effects of statins on women, misleading results in women’s stress tests, recently discovered heart disease risk factors in women (including certain pregnancy complications, such as pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes), workplace stress, insufficient sleep, psoriasis and gum disease, differences in women’s heart attack symptoms, compared to men’s, and studies and recommendations relating to 7 medical tests to screen or diagnose heart disease in women that were featured in the article. Overall, I consulted more than 60 studies and/or medical reports.
Explain types of human sources used.
I interviewed and profiled 6 women who had heart attacks, 3 of whom are now American Heart Association Go Red for Women advocates and educators, as well as 14 cardiologists, including the doctors who treated the women who were profiled and nationally known experts, including Steven Nissen, MD of the Cleveland Clinic, Arthur Agaston, MD, who developed the Agaston scoring system for calcium cardiac scoring, Michael Blaha, MD of Johns Hopkins Cirrarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease, Lawrence Antonucci, MD at Morristown Memorial Hospital, Mariam Legato, MD from the Partnership for Gender Specific Medicine at Columbia Presbyterian, and Bradley Bale, MD, from the Heart Attack & Stroke Prevention Center in Spokane, WA. I also worked closely with the American Heart Association to find women who had important, compelling stories about having heart attacks that were unexpected and potentially preventable, and those who had subsequently become advocates and educators to help protect other women from having heart attacks. I also interviewed several other heart attack survivors whose stories were not included in the published articles.
Results:
Writing and researching this article made me so passionate about heart attack prevention and education that I am now writing a book about these topics, collaborating with one of the doctors I interviewed for the articles. In December, we sold the book to John Wiley & Sons. I also received a letter from the American Heart Association praising the articles and thanking me for drawing attention to its Go Red for Women campaign through the stories of 3 of the campaign’s advocates.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
For a feature story in a large national magazine on women and heart disease, I recommend weaving stories or anecdotes about women who had unexpected heart attacks (to help readers relate to the topic) with solid medical information to empower and educate women about risk factors, prevention, treatment, screening and diagnosis, women’s symptoms and how they differ from men’s, and advocacy for better heart healthcare for women. Many women still think breast cancer is their #1 health threat, when 10 times more women die from heart disease than breast cancer. It’s also extremely important when including case histories to interview the patients’ doctors to make sure the medical details are correct and to speak with multiple medical experts to review the latest research findings and how they apply to readers, and to include specific, actionable tips since more women than men die from heart attacks, often because women wait longer to seek care.