With a generations-long history of heart disease and early death, Dr. Adriedell Stewart wanted her family to receive the best medical advice available. As a result, the Stewart Family Reunion has become something of an annual health fair. In 1996, for example, a team of physicians from the Oregon Health Sciences University Familial Dilated Cardiomyopathy Project was on hand to take blood pressure, measure vital signs and record readings from a heart monitor. In all, three hundred of the 583 family members became part of an on-going Oregon heart study. The 1997 Stewart Family Reunion was held in Kansas City where family members visited a local hospital for physical exams and EKGs. The whole process took only an hour. A word to the wise: Charting individual and family health histories can help doctors better treat exisiting family conditions. As the age old adage puts it: “Prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Source: Nashville Pride
Tell-tale Hearts
