BACKGROUND: Heart disease is the number one killer for both women and men. Here are some more important facts you should know...

• Every 34 seconds, a person in the United States dies from heart disease.

• More than 2,500 Americans die from heart disease each day.

• Every 20 seconds, a person in the United States has a heart attack.

• At least 250,000 people die of heart attacks each year before they reach a hospital.

• Men suffer heart attacks about 10 years earlier in life than women do.

HIGH TECH HELP: Heart health information is going hi-tech to help save lives! Hospitals are now joining the video iPod and pod casting revolution by providing immediate access to the medical world with cutting-edge information and research in cardiovascular disease, its prevention and treatment.

THE VIDEO iPOD: It's news and education on the go and on-demand. Patients worldwide can now access instruction videos on the web about different diseases. They can download information about heart disease, vascular disease, dietary modifications and management of blood pressure. Grayson Wheatly, M.D., from the Arizona Heart Institute in Phoenix, program created the iPod for the Heart and says, " It breaks down both surgical and medical information at a very understandable level."

HOW IT WORKS: Through a centralized Web site, patients, health care professionals, hospital administrators and scientists will gain unrestricted access to the highest quality, multi-media educational materials relating to cardiovascular medicine and surgery. Patients can either download audio and video information into their iPod or read and watch the information on their computers.

PATIENT EDUCATION: One of the biggest complaints in medicine is patients don’t get enough time with their doctors, and the iPod can be an extension of time. "I think patients will come away feeling that they have a better understanding of what is being done to them and also what their disease is," says Dr. Wheatly. Doctors believe one of the most exciting areas for the iPod is patient education. "Let's say someone gets diagnosed with a heart disease, and needs heart surgery," Wheatly explains, "We could potentially hand our patients an iPod full of information about the surgery. We could have examples. It could have illustrations. It could have interviews with other patients. It could be a whole programming associated with that procedure, and the patient could look at it, and then show up the next day, and then we could ask them, 'Do you have any questions? Let's go over this again,' and I think that’s much more effective than just sitting down in a room and drawing a picture on a piece of paper."

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Marisa Maggio-Harelson
Arizona Heart Institute
2632 N. 20th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85006
(800) 345-4278
mharleson@vasaz.com