Royal Columbian to reach out to heart attack survivors
Posted February 28, 2011 7:49 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NEW WESTMINSTER (NEWS1130) – Royal Columbian Hospital is getting some funding for two new cardiac programs, thanks to a $170,000 donation by AstraZeneca Canada.
The hospital’s program medical director Dr. Gerald Simkus says one of the programs will help doctors better track the health of heart attack survivors.
“The fact of the matter is, we get the heart attack patients in and out so quickly, we’ve lost that time to teach the patient about the disease and their drugs,” the doctor points out.
The other program will study what it is that makes South Asians four times more vulnerable than other Candians in getting heart disease.
“We don’t really understand a lot of their genetics, their metabolism and what makes them at risk. So this an opportunity for a high-risk population to be studied,” he notes.
