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My heart Sisters has been redeveloped. Founded in 2012 by Jeanee Andrewartha, it became at the time the leading source of information relating to peripartum/postpartum cardiomyopathy with stories used in medical research papers, flyers developed and distributed in Californian maternity hospitals and ranking on top in search engines. The website at the time was integrated with Facebook, that allowed seamless login and integration but unfortunately, Facebook discontinued this ability to developers

We received a lovely email from Lindsey Rosman, Ph.D. Research Fellow, Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine Department of Medicine Yale School of Medicine New Haven. The two research papers she completed with the help of heart sisters was Contraception and reproductive counseling in women with peripartum cardiomyopathy https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28578148 and Depression and health behaviors in women with Peripartum Cardiomyopathy  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147956

Dr. Kim Williams, president of the American College of Cardiology and chief of cardiology at Rush University, advocates a plant-based diet. William says, "the most important things are plant-based nutrition, exercise, and weight loss. Most people will succumb to heart disease, diabetes, or hypertension on the standard American diet, which is why heart disease is the biggest killer in America. So the best primary prevention strategy is improved lifestyle. ” In his article in his

PPCM Study information: East Carolina University has partnered with leading medical institutions to study quality of life issues in women diagnosed with Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM). Our team of physicians and researchers has developed the Peripartum Cardiomyopathy Quality of Life Registry (PC-QoL Registry) to help medical professionals learn more about women’s long-term physical and emotional needs after diagnosis of PPCM. By understanding women’s perspectives on their health, social su

PPCM It's been a huge year and a long time coming with an update. I hope everyone is doing well. The website is now ranked on page one for terms such as PPCM, Postpartum Cardiomyopathy and Peripartum Cardiomyopathy, a dream come true which means that anyone googling those terms is able to find us easily and get support, connect with other heart sisters, find information and read the all-important PPCM stories. There are

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is similar to Peripartum Cardiomyopathy but it is thought that the stress of a medical procedure such as spinal anesthesia, general anesthesia, and surgery, or an emotional and physical stress of the delivery could have induced the disease and caused left ventrical enlargement, as opposed to myocardial inflammation associated with infection or autoimmunity. In a small study of 15 patients, 13 subjects were found to present the onset of Tako-tsubo syndrome, with caesarea

A speech shared at Annual Remembrance Service Hope Bereavement, Geelong West Town Hall 2nd December 2013 Our son, Jasher died on the 10th July 2011 at home and a few days later, I was diagnosed with postpartum cardiomyopathy, a life threatening form of heart failure that happens as a result of pregnancy. It was undeniably, one of the hardest times of our lives; losing a baby but also facing the prospect of losing my own

Magnesium is indisputably essential for the proper functioning of the heart, calming the nervous system and relaxing the body. It was first shown to be beneficial to the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias in 1935 and also reduces blood pressure. Since then, there has been numerous studies showing that magnesium is beneficial for many types of arrhythmias including atrial fibrillation, ventricular premature contractions, ventricular tachycardia, and severe ventricular arrhythmias. Magnesium supplem

In 2007, Denise Hilfiker-Kleiner, a German researcher, showed that a prolactin fragment known as 16K-PRL which is produced in the heart, attacks the blood vessels and the heart tissues. One treatment to reduce the risk of death in women affected by peripartum cardiomyopathy has been to prevent the production of prolactin by treatment with drugs.The prolactin inhibiting drugs however also stop the production of breast milk. The 16k-PRL prolactin fragment destroys the blood vessels,

The California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative and Stanford University is conducting a study on women's experiences with severe physical complications in pregnancy. Recruitment is limited to those women who live in the United States. The injuries may have been diagnosed at the time of delivery or may not have been noticed until weeks, months or years after the delivery. They are conducting private interviews with women who gave birth vaginally and with women

We all know that pregnancy uses up a woman's stores of minerals. The old saying, "a tooth for every baby" says how much a growing fetus can take from a mother. Iron stores, calcium, vitamin D, zinc, etc can all be depleted during pregnancy and whether this loss of minerals, has a role to play in the development of peripartum cardiomyopathy is something that needs to be investigated. There are many

Most women who develop PPCM are told that they are not able to have any more babies. This is because the initial study on post PPCM pregnancies was done on 16 Haitian women, and the study did not distinguish between women who had normal heart function and those who didn't and of the 16, 8 experienced a worsening of heart function, one died and only one went on to make a full recovery.

Mayo Clinic cardiologists Bernard Gersh, M.B., Ch.B., D.Phil., and Lori Blauwet, M.D., discuss peripartum cardiomyopathy and Dr. Blauwet's research into its prevalence among African women.  This is an informative video that discusses current research into Peripartum Cardiomyopathy in Africa and how the research in Africa relates to the experience in the US. Key points: Peripartum Cardiomyopathy has a number of risk factors but none of these risk factors have

Latest study on postpartum cardiomyopathy in North Carolina, estimates the incidence to be 1 case for every 2,772 live births with a 7-year case-fatality rate was 16.5% . This equates to 14 deaths based on one birth year, in North Carolina alone and these are conservative estimates because potential cases were identified from discharge ICD-9-CM codes and leaves out women who were diagnosed weeks after giving birth. Calculating the incidence of PPCM for the

Between 1998 and 2009, the rate of serious complications like heart attack, stroke, severe bleeding and kidney failure during or after childbirth roughly doubled among U.S. women, according to researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Heart problems were the most common cause of death. And in this latest study, Callaghan's team found that one childbirth complication - the need for cardiac surgery during or after delivery - showed