Soap star Susan Lucci is fronting an awareness campaign by Boehringer Ingelheim promoting awareness of atrial fibrillation.
Lucci’s husband Helmut Huber, who appears in the unbranded campaign, is one of an estimated 2.3 million Americans who suffer the condition, an irregular heartbeat which can increase the risk of stroke nearly five-fold. Earlier this week, Boehringer Ingelheim’s anticoagulant Pradaxa (dabigatran etexilate) won the unanimous assent of an FDA advisory committee for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation.
The company is partnering with the National Stroke Association and StopAfib.org on the effort, a multi-year education program aimed at raising awareness of the condition and facilitating better dialogue between patients and physicians grappling with the condition. It includes a website, www.FacingAFib.com, through which patients can order a free book on the disease, associated with 15% of strokes in the US, and register for program updates.
