Doctor’s Orders: Take HeartAware Assessment Today

Tuesday, 20 March 2007
By David Schneider, MD
Director of Cardiology, University Cardiology at Fletcher Allen Health Care

Now available free to the community through Fletcher Allen Health Care is a quick and confidential online questionnaire that will help determine your risk for heart disease. Taking this test could save your life.

According to the National Heart, Lung., and Blood Institute, 50 percent of men and 64 percent of woman who die suddenly from coronary heart disease have no previous symptoms of the disease.

Those are pretty sobering statistics. What is more sobering is that many of these deaths can be prevented by identifying people at increased risk. This assessment will help identify people with unrecognized heart disease and will allow them to take action to reduce their risk.

The questionnaire called HeartAware, is available at www.FletcherAllen.org. It evaluates several risk factors including overall health and family history. When completed, you will receive a personalized, confidential report assessing your heart health and providing recommendations for lifestyle modifications. You also have the option of receiving free heart health information by e-mail.

Those who are found to be at-risk will be eligible for a free, 20-minute consultation with a nurse at Fletcher Allen’s outpatient cardiology office in South Burlington. This consultation which includes a blood pressure and cholesterol check, will help identify if you are at-risk and help your physician to prevent heart disease.

Also now available at our Web site is a comprehensive heart health information center that includes a wealth of prevention tips and information about conditions and procedures, complete with interactive animations.

If you have questions, please e-mail heartaware@vtmednet.org or call Fletcher Allen Cardiology at 847-4600. Don’t delay. Take HeartAware today.