CINCINNATI (February 3, 2025) – February marks American Heart Month and The Christ Hospital Health Network, Cincinnati’s Heart Hospital, will be raising awareness of heart disease and overall cardiovascular health. Providers at The Christ Hospital Heart & Vascular Institute will be wearing red for Go Red Day on Friday, February 7.
Heart disease is the #1 killer of both men and women, but it is preventable. Cardiovascular diseases kill nearly 1 in 3 women each year, killing approximately one woman every 80 seconds. Fortunately, we can change that because 80% of cardiac and stroke events may be prevented with education and action.
The Christ Hospital Women’s Heart Center, founded and lead by Odayme Quesada, MD, Medical Director and Ginger Warner Endowed Chair in Women’s Cardiovascular Health, is one of the only centers of its kind in the country providing cardiovascular care for women focusing on specialized programs to care for women across their lifespan.
•Heart conditions requiring specialized knowledge such as coronary microvascular and vasomotor dysfunction.
•Pregnancy-related heart health including counseling in women with heart disease before pregnancy, management of heart condition during pregnancy or prevention after a pregnancy complicated by adverse outcomes such as pregnancy induced hypertension, preeclampsia.
•Prevention for women at high risk for heart disease.
Among the Women’s Heart Center specialty programs is the coronary microvascular and vasomotor dysfunction (CMVD) program. CMVD is a condition where tiny blood vessels in the heart are damaged which can lead to reduced blood flow and chest pain. Patients with CMVD are often ignored because they have chest pain but their cardiac tests are normal due to required specialized testing needed to diagnose CMVD. Dr. Quesada and Dr. Timothy Henry, recently published an article in the journal of Catheter Cardiovascular Intervention titled Developing a Women's Heart Center With a Specialization in Coronary Microvascular and Vasomotor Dysfunction: If You Build It, They Will Come. Dr. Quesada shares how she built one of the fastest growing programs in the United States as a nationally recognized center for clinical care, diagnostics and research in CMVD. This program is gender neutral.
“Very few centers around the country, or even the world, focus on women’s specific cardiac care,” said Dr. Quesada. “The more we study how heart disease in women, the more we learn about important differences compared to men. Knowing this, we have highly specialized team of providers that diagnose and treat women with heart disease. February marks a time where we reach out to women to take control of their heart health. If you have symptoms without any answers, seek a second opinion from women’s heart experts.”
The Women’s Heart Center not only leads in cardiovascular care for women but also cutting-edge research to close the knowledge gap that exists in women’s heart disease. Dr. Quesada received funding from the National Institute of Health to support innovative research ideas. She remains a leader in the Cincinnati community, partnering with local organizations to bring awareness about cardiovascular disease in Black and Hispanic/Latino communities that are disproportionally affected by heart disease.
The Women’s Heart Center continues to expand at The Christ Hospital. Shree Lata Radhakrishnan, MD, a board-certified cardiologist has joined The Christ Hospital Physicians – Heart & Vascular team. Specializing in women’s cardiovascular disease with a focus on prevention, Dr. Radhakrishnan, is an excellent addition to this incredible team. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call the Women's Heart Center at (513) 585-2140.
About The Christ Hospital Health Network
The Christ Hospital Health Network consists of an acute care hospital located in Mt. Auburn, a remote hospital location in Liberty Township, five ambulatory outpatient centers and dozens of medical offices throughout the region. For more than 135 years, The Christ Hospital has provided compassionate care to those it serves. Made up for more than 1,300 physicians and 7,200 team members, our mission is to improve the health of our community by providing exceptional outcomes in an affordable way. The Network was recognized by U.S. News & World Report as the #1 hospital in the Cincinnati Region and named to Newsweek’s World’s Best Hospitals list in 2024.