Kathy Kastan

Memphis Resident to Receive Womans Day Award
Heart disease survivor Kathy Kastan is first patient advocate honored www.womenheart.org

Nationally-recognized womens heart health advocate Kathy Kastan is being awarded the prestigious Red Dress Award from Womans Day magazine on February 10th at a gala event in New York City celebrating American Heart Month. A long-time Memphis resident, Ms. Kastan is the author of From the Heart: A Womans Guide to Living Well with Heart Disease and co-author of WomenHearts All Heart Family Cookbook and is a past president of WomenHeart, the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease.

Very little is understood about womens heart disease, says Ms. Kastan, who underwent heart bypass surgery at the age of 42. My recovery was long and difficult, she says, and it took a long time to find a doctor who understood that women are not just little men with breasts. Since her diagnosis, Ms. Kastan has become a tireless advocate for other women learning to live with heart disease, serving as the national spokesperson for the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institutes The Heart Truth®/Red Dress campaign since 2003 and on the board of directors of the Greater Southeast Affiliate of the American Heart Association.

Im incredibly honored to receive the Red Dress Award, says Ms. Kastan. It is humbling to be recognized for doing something which is simply necessary to helping other women stay healthy and alive. Proceeds from the February 10th event will benefit the Larry King Cardiac Foundation and special guests will include Tim Gunn, co-host of Lifetime Televisions Project Runway and Grammy Award-winning singer Mary J. Blige.

Most recently, Ms. Kastan has set her sights on educating health care providers on the intricacies of womens heart disease by creating, in partnership with WomenHeart, an intensive one-day conference: Fighting the Cardiovascular Epidemic in Women, which will take place in Memphis on February 27th. Heart disease is the leading killer of women both in the United States and in Tennessee, says Lisa Tate, CEO of WomenHeart. Were thrilled to work with Kathy on providing the latest innovations in cardiac care to Tennessee physicians, especially since Tennessee has one of the highest rates of womens heart disease in the nation. As program coordinator, Ms. Kastan will be speaking at the cardiac conference on A Patients Perspective on Cardiovascular Disease.

Additional information on the Red Dress Awards can be found at http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Health/Conditions-Diseases/Red-Dress-Awards...

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