The 1999 edition of the American Heart Association's Heart and Stroke
Statistical Update underscores the magnitude of the impact of heart
disease on our society. It is hard to imagine that one American dies
every minute from a coronary event, or that 50 million Americans suffer
from high blood pressure, or that seven million Americans have suffered
a heart attack. And it is hard to imagine that, in 1996, almost half a
million Americans died of coronary heart disease - one of every 4.9
deaths in the entire country that year.
The economic toll of coronary heart disease is staggering, as well. The
most recent statistics available demonstrate that in 1996, the average
cost of a coronary event from hospital admission to discharge was
$22,720. The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) data for 1995
indicate that $9.8 billion was paid to Medicare beneficiaries for
coronary heart disease.
But statistics, however dramatic, and dollar amounts, however
staggering, cannot adequately reflect the human consequences of heart
disease. All of us know families who have lost loved ones to some form
of cardiovascular disease, either through the terrible suddenness of a
heart attack, or the inexorable progression of chronic heart failure.
At the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, researchers continue to
look at new ways to treat heart disease, helping develop better medical
and surgical interventions to restore patients to health. Our work with
Abbott Northwestern Hospital and Computer Motion, Inc. on robotic
surgery technology, offers the hope of dramatically expanded
minimally-invasive heart surgery. Ideally, patients will leave the
hospital far sooner, will suffer fewer surgery-related complications,
and will return more quickly to a normal lifestyle. We expect to use the
robotic system on clinical patients at Abbott Northwestern Hospital
early in 2000. A new study, which began in 1999, looks at the use of a
naturally-occurring protein, recombinant fibroblast growth factor
(rFGF-2), to stimulate new blood vessel growth in the hearts of patients
with severe coronary heart disease. Delivered by a catheter into the
coronary artery, the rFGF-2 stimulates new blood vessels by a process
known as angiogenesis, theoretically allowing patients to grow their own
coronary artery bypasses.
While the promise of new therapies remains exciting, prevention of heart
disease has to be a top priority in our society. At the Minneapolis
Heart Institute Foundation, we continue to provide Minnesotans with
up-to-date health information which will allow them to make important
choices about their heart health. Our Education Department remains
committed to working with under-served populations, whether in outstate
communities, or in south Minneapolis. By providing key health education
to high-risk populations, we hope to effect changes in deleterious
health behaviors which lead to preventable morbidity and mortality, and
which exact a staggering economic toll on our society.
In its 1993 Annual Report, The California Wellness Foundation noted that
improvements in the health of the overall population "can only be
realized by addressing health habits and social and economic factors,
such as poverty, lack of job opportunities, poor nutrition, and high
rates of school drop-outs."
The Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation is just one organization
trying to make a difference in the health of our community. As we
explore innovative and promising new therapies, we will also have firmly
in mind the many inter-connected factors which contribute to heart
disease in our communities, especially the most economically
disadvantaged communities, and we will look for partners to address
those factors which rob too many Minnesotans of their most precious
possession - their health.
Thank you for your support of the Minneapolis Heart Institute
Foundation. I wish you and your families a happy and healthy year.
Ford W. Bell, D.V.M.
President
Education That Makes A Difference
Advancement in Cardiovascular Research
Raising Dollars to Improve Lives
Past Annual Reports:
Annual Report for 1997
