This program is specifically designed to treat women and address the unique concerns and unique risk factors they may experience.
This program is specifically designed to treat women and address the unique concerns and unique risk factors they may experience.Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States, accounting for approximately 1 in 5 deaths. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 60 million women in the United States live with heart disease. In an effort to curb heart disease and stroke rates, cardiologists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Heart and Vascular Institute have restarted a women's heart health program.
This program is specifically designed to treat women. Our team of experienced heart specialists assesses and manages the health of women with all types of heart disease, addressing the unique concerns and unique risk factors they may experience. Patients participating in this program will have access to more physician specialists than ever before.
“Women have different risk factors and may experience different cardiovascular symptoms than men,” said Gretchen Wells, MD, director of the UAB Medicine Women's Heart Health Program. “We use cutting-edge technology and guideline-based diagnostic tools and treatments for women to ensure we provide the best possible care for our patients.”
The program focuses on treating several conditions primarily encountered by women, including coronary microvascular disease, diastolic heart failure, spontaneous coronary artery dissection, and cardiovascular complications of pregnancy.
“We focus on disease-specific areas for women,” Wells said. “Our collaboration with multiple groups, including internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, interventional cardiology, and cardiac rehabilitation, provides comprehensive care for our patients.”
While the program offers complex, cutting-edge technology, it also focuses on helping patients take precautions, Wells said.
microvascular program
An early study conducted at UAB showed that about half of the women who had abnormal stress tests did not have coronary artery disease based on cardiac catheterization imaging. UAB physicians can now evaluate coronary microvascular disease.
Doctors at the Women's Heart Health Program perform coronary function tests. This test measures blood flow through the small blood vessels of the heart, which are most susceptible to the disease. UAB is one of only two hospitals in the state that tests for CMD, she said.
“This device allows us to better serve our female patients, as they make up the majority of patients with coronary microvascular dysfunction,” said UAB Interventional Cardiologist. said Dr. Mustafa Ahmed. “These new tools will improve how we measure this type of pathology and allow us to better identify patients with this condition. We now have a better understanding of different treatments that specifically address the underlying pathology of the disease.”
Ahmed said that in the past, atypical symptoms of the disease could not be quantified, resulting in cases. Experts now have access to better tests to identify these diseases, allowing them to diagnose many patients for whom conventional medicine has failed.
If you would like to become a patient at the Women's Heart Health Program, please call 205-975-7123 to make an appointment.
