For immediate release: Feb. 3, 2012

Contact: Fiona Libsack, 970.237.7101, fbl1@pvhs.org

Heart Center of the Rockies'  cardiologists want women of all ages to show their hearts some love by attending the Heart Month Celebration event on Feb. 8 at Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland.

The free event will open with a meet-and-greet session and appetizers at 5 p.m.  Presentations will start at 5:30 p.m. and include:

• What makes us so different? The effects of heart disease on women.
  Dr. Wendy Austin, cardiologist and Heart Center of the Rockies' women heart program medical director.
  
• The benefit of heart health support groups.
  Carol Noller, WomenHeart of Northern Colorado Support network coordinator.

In addition to providing participants heart disease information, the Heart Month Celebration will launch the recently developed Poudre Valley Health System's Heart Center of the Rockies Women's Heart Health Program.

"In the U.S. each year, one in four women will die of heart disease, according to the American Heart Association," said Austin. "Through education, support groups, cardiac rehabilitation and local lifestyle change events that will happen throughout the year, the Heart Center of the Rockies' Women's Heart Health Program offers support to the many women currently living with heart disease and lowering the number of women who develop it."

The program has partnered with WomenHeart, a national coalition for women's heart disease, to offer a support group for local women who have experienced a heart event or are at risk for heart disease. The first meeting will be held following the Heart Month Celebration from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

To register for the Heart Month Celebration event, call 970.237.7004. For more information about the event, the WomenHeart support group, or what you can do to prevent heart disease, go to pvhs.org/women-heart.

--PVHS--