DIRECTOR OF WOMEN’S HEART CENTER AT THE CEDARS-SINAI HEART INSTITUTE AT TEDXWOMEN CONFERENCE.

Barbra Streisand to introduce presentation by MD pioneering discoveries about gender differences in heart disease.

C. Noel Bairey Merz, MD, will address thousands of women attending more than 100 TEDxWomen events around the world during the TEDWomen conference on Thursday, Dec. 1. Barbra Streisand — the legendary actress, singer and women’s advocate — is scheduled to introduce Bairey Merz, director of the Women’s Heart Center at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. Bairey Merz will discuss how the mentorship of women physicians inspired her to focus on uncovering gender differences in symptoms and treatment of heart disease and why women should push for more research. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer worldwide and often is misdiagnosed in women.

WHAT:
Barbra Streisand will introduce C. Noel Bairey Merz, MD, who will address the TEDWomen Conference, a bi-coastal live webcast of presentations about leading-edge ideas for women. The conference is produced and curated by the Paley Center for Media and hosted by Pat Mitchell. Presentations will be live-streamed via the Internet to more than 100 TEDx Women events around the globe.

WHEN:
Dr. Bairey Merz is scheduled to speak around 11:15 am PST on Thursday, Dec. 1.

WHERE:
The day’s events may be viewed via live stream at http://www.livestream.com/tedxwomen.

To participate in the conversation via Twitter, use hashtag: #TEDxWomen.

WHO:
Bairey Merz, director of the Women’s Heart Center of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, is available for interviews. The center provides risk assessment, diagnosis and heart disease care at the hospital ranked among the top 15 in the nation for Heart and Heart Surgery by U.S. News and World Report. The center is designed to help women reduce their chances of heart disease through a preventive approach, including state-of-the-art testing.

WOMEN AND HEART DISEASE STATISTICS

 Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 cause of death for U.S. women.
 Two out of three American women have at least one risk factor for heart disease.
 One out of two American women will develop heart and vascular disease.
 Twelve times as many women die of heart disease every year as die from breast cancer.
 455,000 American women die of heart disease every year, compared to 410,000 men.
 One-quarter to one-half of women with heart disease experience different symptoms than men typically do. For example, many women experience extreme fatigue and nausea, while men report a tingling feeling in their left arm.

Source: American Heart Association

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