Heart disease’s effect on women focus of forum

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Response has been excellent to the first-of-its-kind conference sponsored by the American Heart Association focusing on the impact of heart disease and stroke on women.

“We’re just thrilled,” said AHA regional director Deborah Farnham of incoming registrations for the daylong conference, “Women at Risk,” which will be held 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7, at the Bangor Civic Center.

The event features speakers, educational presentations, health screenings and other information designed to educate women and health care professionals regarding women’s health.

The event begins with check-in and free health screenings for registrants followed by the 9 a.m. welcoming address of AHA Northeastern Maine president Doug Kavanaugh.

The 9:15 a.m. keynote address by Dr. Chae Choi is “Knowledge is Power: Understanding and Minimizing Your Risk of Heart Disease and Stroke.”

General registration is $15 per person. Professional registration is $35 per person, and continuing education units are available.

To receive a registration form, call (800) 937-0944 or register online by calling Farnham at 848-0829.

Partner-in-Health sponsors for the conference, which Farnham hopes will become an annual event, are Northeast Cardiology Associates and Guidant Corp.

Among the speakers are nutritionist and University of Maine professor emeritus Katherine Musgrave, who will discuss “What’s Eating You? Food for Thought on Fad Diets and Nutrition.”

You also will see and hear Cheryl Wixson, co-host of “What’s for Suppah?” on Maine PBS.

The conference is part of the AHA program “Go Red for Women,” which encourages women to live longer, stronger lives, Farnham explained.

“What we’re finding, along with our committee members in the health care field, is that women have an increasing risk for heart disease that is, in fact, the number one killer of women in Maine and in the nation.”

She hopes the conference will help women “recognize all risk factors and all warning signs, and pay attention to themselves, when it comes to health care.”

Farnham pointed out that women “tend to be the main care providers for the family, often making decisions about when to go to the doctor and the hospital.”

“They tend to be the ones who make decisions about what the family does in terms of nutrition and exercise, so we really want to reach out to women and help them understand they might not be paying attention to themselves as they should be,” she said.

Farnham hopes the conference will help women understand that heart disease, heart attacks or strokes “may tend to be a little different than what men experience,” and to recognize those differences and symptoms.

For example, she said, a feeling of nausea in a woman might not be just the flu.

“What we’re really trying to do is to help women survive,” Farnham concluded.

For more information about Women at Risk or to register call the numbers above.

The registration deadline is Friday, Jan. 30.

Here is a last-minute reminder that the Hospice of Hancock County ninth annual silent auction is 4-7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, at the Holiday Inn in Ellsworth.

Tickets are $15 each and can be purchased in advance by calling HHC at 667-2531 by 4 p.m. today, but they also will be available at the door.

Included in the cost are appetizers and beverages. A cash bar also will be available and auction bidding closes at 6 p.m.

HHC is an all-volunteer organization that supports individuals and families in Hancock County who are facing end-of-life situations.

If you have questions about HHC and the services it provides, call the above number.

Downeast Horizons of Bar Harbor, which has served adults with developmental disabilities for nearly 30 years, “is changing and expanding to improve our organization,” according to Andy Kropff.

As a result of one of those changes, the organization no longer needs the tools and equipment used by individuals at the former MDI Workshop since that facility closed last summer.

For that reason, Downeast Horizons will hold a silent auction from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29, and Friday, Jan. 30, and from 8 a.m. until noon Saturday, Jan. 31, at the former MDI Workshop on Route 3 in Bar Harbor.

The sale includes woodshop tools, equipment and shop accessories.

No sneak previews are allowed, and winning bidders must be present at the end of the auction to remove their merchandise.

All proceeds will benefit those served by DH.

If you have questions about the auction, call Kropff at 460-1394 or e-mail jobdev@dehi.org.

Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; 990-8288.