Author Archive

WHA’s Founder, Barbra Streisand and Dr. C. Noel Bairey Merz, WHA’s Scientific Advisor and Director of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center, recently sat down to talk about women’s heart health on JAMA’s Clinical Reviews podcast. They touch particularly on coronary microvascular disease and how it causes an unusual presentation of cardiac ischemic disease in women. “Improving heart health is everybody’s responsibility,” said Streisand. “Because cardiovascular disease is everybody’s problem.” Listen to the full episode here.

It’s time to make women a priority. For decades, women have been needlessly dying because research and treatment of cardiovascular disease has primarily been focused on men. And we’re fighting to change that. This week, Rep. Herrera Beutler and Rep. Roybal-Allard introduced a Congressional Resolution about women’s cardiovascular disease. If passed, this resolution would recognize women’s cardiovascular health as a critical health care priority and be an important first step toward achieving heart equity for women across the United States.  We applaud Rep. Herrera Beutler and Rep. Roybal-Allard for working across the aisle, and leading the way toward real public policy …

Heart disease is the no. 1 killer of women in the United States, killing more women than all cancers combined. Women are 50% more likely to be given a wrong diagnosis after a heart attack, and are less likely to receive bystander CPR. Learn about the state of heart disease in your state by downloading one of our fact sheets below. Downloadable Fact Sheets: National Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New …

Patricia Bosak died at age 64 because her heart gave out. But that’s not what she should be remembered for, says her son, George. “She was the most selfless person in the world,” he says. “She gave me every avenue to make my dreams come true.” That meant driving him to hockey while he was growing up and sleeping in the parking lot while he practiced or played games late into the night so that he would one day realize his dream of playing professionally. When Patricia seemed confused at times, loved ones didn’t consider it a sign of heart …

Barbra Streisand is the best-selling female recording artist in history – and the only artist to ever receive an Oscar, Tony, Emmy, Grammy, Directors Guild of America, Golden Globe, National Medal of Arts and Peabody Award, as well as France’s Légion d’Honneur, the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. And in 2008, she became the only female director to receive The Kennedy Center Honors. Ms. Streisand is the only recording artist in history to achieve a number one album in six consecutive decades. A true Renaissance woman, Ms. Streisand’s civil rights activism and philanthropic …

Women’s Heart Alliance Advisors Holly Andersen, M.D. and Noel Bairey Merz, M.D. authored an op-ed calling for Congress to prioritize women’s health and lives. Read on The Hill.  The cultural biases that imperil women with heart disease are so ingrained that a woman’s chance of surviving a heart attack can depend on the sex of her physician. And in general, a woman who has a heart attack is more likely than a man to die. As two women in the vanguard of heart research, we’ve fought our entire careers to save women from heart disease — their No. 1 killer. In this …

Women’s Heart Alliance Medical Advisor Dr. Holly Andersen, Director of Education and Outreach at the Ronald O. Perelman Heart Institute at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, discusses why heart disease kills more women every year than all cancers combined on the “Real Women, Real Stories” channel. “Most of what we know about heart disease has come from research done on men, designed for men. And this has greatly benefited men, but women have not fared as well,” she says. “And while death rates have been declining in this country for decades for men, death rates due to heart disease …

Women’s Heart Alliance co-founder Barbra Streisand delivered the prestigious J. Edward Rall Cultural Lecture on Tuesday, May 15, at the National Institutes of Health before a packed auditorium, where she spoke about the urgent issue of women’s cardiovascular health and the inclusion of women in scientific research. “In order for art and science, together, to have their greatest impact on society, we need to ensure that all people are included — as creators and as subjects,” she said. “We need everyone’s perspective at the table and the bench, in the studio and the lab.” After the lecture, she joined NIH …