John Madden
John Madden Speaks of the Madden Family’s Experience with Vascular Diseases
“While in her mid-40s, my wife, Virginia, developed a health condition that, frankly, at the time we didn’t know anything about. At first it was misdiagnosed. Fortunately, we ended up going to the right doctor who correctly identified the problem - a blocked carotid artery, the main blood vessel that leads through the neck to the brain - a deadly condition if not treated. Today, Virginia is fine and our family is better informed. We learned her condition was a vascular disease. And we learned that vascular disease is a silent killer.
Virginia’s condition opened our eyes to vascular diseases, a world of serious medical conditions affecting arteries and veins that, like us, very few people are familiar with. It’s true people have heard about heart attacks, but they may not know what causes them, even though a heart attack is usually the result of a problem with an artery. And people have heard about strokes which are often called “brain attacks” because they affect the brain the way heart attacks affect the heart, through a problem or blockage in an artery. There again, people may not connect the term ‘stroke” to vascular disease, but they’re one and the same.
Do you know that almost one in two women over age 55 dies from vascular illness? Do you know, for example, that every thirty seconds, someone in the U.S. dies from a vascular disease? And, perhaps most importantly, do you know that vascular disease is not just a condition affecting women or older folks, but is one that can affect people across all ethnic groups and ages? You see, not only did Virginia have her problem, but our grandson, Sam, has a vascular disorder, similar to the condition that afflicts Casey Martin, the talented golfer who can’t walk the course and needs a golf cart to get around. Thanks again to excellent care from outstanding vascular specialists, Sam’s prognosis is excellent.
The fact is vascular diseases are life-threatening, potential killers that can strike anyone at any age at anytime. Cardio-vascular (heart and blood vessel) disease is the leading cause of death in the United States - one million people die from it annually. Other vascular diseases, excluding the heart, account for a third of a million deaths and cripple half of the survivors. These diseases include stroke, abdominal aortic aneurysm, high blood pressure and kidney failure, peripheral vascular (arterial) disease and vein (venous) disease.
But there are dedicated scientists and doctors who are trying to get to the bottom of these diseases. The non-profit VascularCures supports innovative research into the causes and treatment of vascular diseases, educates physicians and patients, and conducts ongoing public outreach programs to alert the public about this serious health threat. In fact, VascularCures’ Co-Founder, Dr. Ron Stoney, is the vascular surgeon who operated on my wife, Virginia, and may well have saved her life.
VascularCures supports a scientific research facility, the Laboratory for Accelerated Vascular Research, located at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and award grants to medical academic scientists engaged in independent, breakthrough research into life-saving treatments for vascular disease.
The Maddens are doing what we can to help people learn more about vascular disorders. I think it’s like preparing a team for any upcoming game or challenge - the more you know about your potential opponent, the better prepared you are and the greater the likelihood you’ll be successful."
