On July 10th 2023, we had the first of what I hope to be many programs designed to bring medical information into the community, where it’s needed most.
In collaboration with Pfizer and The Christ Hospital’s Women’s Heart Center, we hosted an in-person portion of the Voices for the Heart event at the Heart of Northside. The goal was to raise awareness of a heart condition that impacts mainly the Black community, called hereditary transthyretin cardiomyopathy, or ATTR-CM.
Dr. Jannae White (via video) described the disease process and potential signs or symptoms that you should mention to your doctor, such as shortness of breath, tingling and numbness of the hands and/or feet, and vision problems. The video portion was viewed by participants in many cities across the country.
Ms. Cassady Palmer, a Cardiac Research Sonographer from The Christ Hospital, moderated the televised portion, and we were treated with a live interview with Don Chaney, an NBA Hall of Famer, who spoke about his personal experience with ATTR-CM.
Community members who were able to come to the event at the Heart of Northside could then ask questions of Cardiologist Dr. Tim Raymond, Medical Director of the Cardiac Amyloid Clinic of The Christ Hospital, who was present in the audience. Dr. Raymond treats many who suffer from this disease, and he was able to address more specific questions for people in our community.
We then chatted and enjoyed light refreshments afterwards, and got to know each other better!
I hope to host many similar events at the Heart of Northside with the goal of bringing a better understanding of heart health to our community, and to make friends of our neighbors.