“GET THE WORD OUT” CAMPAIGN FOR SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA

For Immediate release February 9, 2009

Contact: Lisa La Valle-Finan                                                                   Contact: Lisa Salberg

E:  LLFinan@4HCM.org                                                                                E: lisa@4HCM.org

T: 973-337-6895                                                                                           T: 973-983-7429

“GET THE WORD OUT” CAMPAIGN FOR SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA

Funded For The Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association (HCMA) www.4HCM.org

In Memory of Colby Jackson

West Virginia (February 9, 2009) – Thanks to the generous fundraising efforts of Colby Jackson’s family, raised in the August 2008 through the Colby Jackson Memorial Ride, ONE HUNDRED cardiologists in FIVE counties in West Virginia -- including Kanawha, Nicholas, Boone, Fayette, Greenbrier, Logan, Raleigh, Summers, Monroe, Mercer, McDowell and Mingo --will receive official HCMA Get the Word OUT kits during February, Heart Month. With a population of about 615,000 in Southern West Virgina, it is estimated that 1,230 will have HCM for whom the HCMA, www.4HCM.org, can now provide information, support, advocacy and access to care.

Colby Jackson died from undiagnosed HCM. He left behind a wife and 3 children.

They have taken their grief and turned it into action.  They hope to save the lives of other young people who do not know that heart disease is an equal opportunity killer. This August, the family will hold a second ride to continue to raise funds to educate medical professionals and the public about HCM. Interviews with Colby’s window, Tara Jackson can be arranged by contacting the HCMA.

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a genetic heart disease that creates a thickening of the heart wall muscle and is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in children and young adults (<40).  More importantly, although heart disease is the number one killer in women, the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association www.4HCM.org warns women remain untreated for cardiac disease for decades, even though symptoms were identified earlier than their appropriately identified and treated male counterparts, according to the recent publication of a cohort of 1,228 HCM patients worldwide, in the Journal of Women’s Health.

Of course it’s vital to eat healthy, exercise, and reduce your risk factors by keeping your weight down, stop smoking, and get your blood pressure and cholesterol checked regularly. However, it’s perhaps more important to become educated and aware of the four major masquerading signs and symptoms that signal HCM, but are too often misdiagnosed for other ailments such as “innocent” heart murmurs, Depression – mistaken for “just fatigue”; Panic attacks – which produce heart palpitations; or, Asthma – which results in shortness of breath.

Early HCM detection by pre-screening, plus education and awareness in the medical community, and public at large, continues to be a crucial life-saving message on behalf of the HCMA. Estimated to affect one in 500 North Americans, HCM can be detected and treated allowing patients to live long, productive lives.  HCM is a not an uncommon heart disease. In fact, it is nearly seven times more common than Cystic Fibrosis. Each year, over 1700 Americans will die from HCM. Over fifty percent will be under the age of fifty four.

HCMA is a non-profit 501(c) (3) organization formed in 1996 to provide information, support and advocacy to patients, their families and medical providers. The HCMA is structured with medical advisors governing all of the medical content provided by the HCMA and a Board of Director governing the day-to-day operations and growth. The HCMA is supported by grants and donations.

Lisa Salberg, CEO & Founder of the HCMA. For more information about the

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association log on to www.4HCM.org. To schedule an interview with Lisa Salberg, please call Lisa LaValle-Finan at 973-337-6895, or contact her via email at LLFinan@4HCM.org