By Stowell P. Watters
Staff Writer
    Every year, one third of natural deaths among American women can be attributed to heart disease, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). February is the official heart health awareness month, but that didn’t stop the Go Red For Women Campaign from hosting their third annual, Go Red for Women (GRW) event at The Colony Hotel in Kennebunkport.
    Doctors and health professionals greeted event goers at 4:30 p.m. when The Colony opened its doors on Nov. 1.  The evening began with a series of health screenings and exhibits.
    “As a part of heart health awareness we have incorporated a variety of free screenings, they serve to really bring the issue of heart disease to the front and let people know this isn’t just something we can learn about, it is something we can practice,” said Danie Connolly, a GRW committee member.
    More than 230 people mingled among the various booths as peripheral artery screenings were offered by Sanofi-Aventis and York Hospital, cholesterol finger-prick screenings were offered by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and blood pressure readings were done by Cardiovascular Consultants of Maine.
    On the Marsh Restaurant hosted an exhibit and wine tasting as doctors discussed the various health benefits of red wine. Lindt Chocolate provided the crowd with a slew of candies while a spokesman talked to people about the heart and the beneficial qualities of dark chocolate.
    Patrons were also privy to a series of workshops on the heart. Most popular, said Connolly, was the “heart healthy holiday party planning” and “top five ways to beat stress during the holidays” workshops.
    “As the holiday season approaches we have a lot of people who want to keep their heart in mind, think about all the fatty foods you eat this time of year, it’s no wonder,” Connolly said.
    An “ask the doctor” workshop allowed guests to voice their questions directly to cardiologists on the Go Red Medical Committee.     Dr. Mukesh Bhargava fielded questions about medications, and whether or not food and beverage would dilute them.
    “Water does not dilute your medication, I get a lot of people asking this,” said Bhargava, who practices medicine in Sanford.
    Dr. Ben Lowenstien, a cardiologist with Seacoast Cardiology, also answered questions pertaining to medications, as many guests seemed to be concerned about the timing of their medication intake.
    “I tell patients to take medications depending on their symptoms and when they occur, or if their meds make them tired, to take them at the end of the day,” Lowenstien said.
    During the workshops, attendees were allowed to bid on items during a silent auction and all proceeds were donated to the American Heart Association. Items auctioned included a framed panoramic photograph of Fenway park, a mountain bike, local art and sculpture pieces, chocolate, wine and even jewelry decorated with hearts.
    “The auction is a great way for people to donate and get something cool back for their money in addition to the fact that they are giving to such a great cause,” Connolly said, gesturing to the many tables covered with auction items. “Just look at all this neat stuff!”
    A heart healthy dinner was provided by the kitchen staff at The Colony. Executive Chef Darren Watson said he prepared the lemon-basil marinated grilled chicken over julienne vegetables (locally grown), baked pumpkin potato duchess and butternut squash and organic candied ginger soup with almonds with the interests of the heart-healthy crowd forefront in his mind.
    “It was a fun challenge to for us in the kitchen, we used very little sodium, margarine opposed to butter and really took into account what a heart-healthy crowd would want for dinner,” Watson said.
Watson’s staff also cooked up a slew of hors d’oeuvres, including vegetarian spring rolls, spinach pinwheels, roast beef wrapped asparagus sprigs and shrimp quiche squares.
    Local TV anchor and known heart health advocate, Kim Block, began the event by introducing the goals of the AHA, as well as event Chairwoman Diane J. Chiarantona. Chiarantona spoke to the crowd about how GRW helped to increase her knowledge about heart disease.
    “I now realize that having my cholesterol checked over 15 years ago – and it was bad then – isn’t taking care of my heart,” she said. “I’ve come to understand like other healthy women, I could be at risk, we are all at risk.”
    The next speaker experienced a serious cardiac arrest when she was 44-years-old, in the middle of a yoga class. Since then, Debrah Heffernan has received a heart transplant and appeared on the Oprah Windfrey show. She is also the author of the book “An Arrow Through the Heart: One Woman’s Story of Life, Love, and Surviving a Near-Fatal Heart Attack,” in which she details her failed angioplasty, a double bypass and eight days of unconsciousness in which she almost died. At the time of her attack she was a non-smoker, ate her vegetables and had both low cholesterol and low blood pressure levels.
    “Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women ages 25 to 44, and no one was screaming about it at the time of my attack. I wrote the book to really get this issue out there. Eighteen people die a day waiting for a heart transplant, 100,000 people are on lists as we speak,” Heffernan said.
    She detailed her overnight stay at Massachusets General Hospital in which she went into cardiac arrest six times in one night. Love and laughter, she said, have always been the best medicines,
    “Surround yourself with love, your health, your life depends on it,” she said.
    During Heffernan’s speech a woman fainted, doctors reacted immediately and an ambulance soon arrived. Connolly said the woman left the hospital around midnight that night with no extenuating health problems.
    Heffernan concluded her speech by grabbing a boisterous laugh from the crowd.
    “No woman has ever been so happy to be so decidedly middle-aged,” she said, poking fun at her severe, protracted battle with heart disease.
    Before giving out a “Crystal Heart Award” to Elaine Haley for her “tireless enthusiasm and positive spirit which she uses to make her community a better place to live,” according to a GRW brochure, Block announced the event had successfully raised the AHA’s needed $90,000.
    For more information about the AHA or how you can get involved in personal heart health, go to their Web site www.americanheart.org.