AstraZeneca and the Artery Explorer Take California Residents on Virtual Journey Through th...( SAN FRANCISCO July 31 /- ...),Health

SAN FRANCISCO, July 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) today announced that the 2009 US AGAINST ATHERO tour is in the San Francisco Bay Area from August 1-9 for the National Senior Games, the largest multisport event in the world for people over 50 years of age, to help educate attendees about atherosclerosis ("athero" for short) -- the progressive buildup of plaque in the arteries and a leading cause of coronary heart disease (CHD). CHD is the number one cause of death in the United States.(1)

"There are many contributors to the development of coronary heart disease, including family history and age," said General K. Hilliard, MD, FACC, a Livermore, Calif. cardiologist and immediate past chairman of the Association of Black Cardiologists. "Over 83 percent of people who die of coronary heart disease are 65 years of age or older.(2) The US AGAINST ATHERO movement addresses an important health issue for Senior Games attendees and their families and is designed to motivate participants to take action by improving the health of their arteries."

Before turning 35 years of age, two out of three Americans will have some degree of athero.(3) However, it's not too late to learn how to care for the arteries, especially since athero typically has no signs or symptoms(4) until an artery becomes severely narrowed or completely blocked, potentially leading to a heart attack, stroke, or other serious, potentially fatal, health problems.(4) US AGAINST ATHERO, sponsored by AstraZeneca, will be at the Senior Games with the Artery Explorer, a multi sensory motion simulator that illustrates the causes, progression, and consequences of atherosclerosis, to help attendees learn about arterial health.

Inside the Artery Explorer, attendees will travel through the winding path of the human circ
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