Sign-Express is proud to be an in-kind donor of banner signage for the 2016 BB&T Woodlands CrawPHish Festival. Now you may be wondering why the PH in CrawPHish. The “PH” in the name comes from Pulmonary Hypertension. A local family whose daughter has Pulmonary Hypertension started the festival as a way to raise awareness of PH, in hopes of raising money for research to find a cure for the disease.
Pulmonary arteries carry the blood from your heart to your lungs, enabling your entire body to receive oxygen. Pulmonary Hypertension is known as “The Silent Killer” and is often referred to as PH. This means that the lungs’ arteries blood pressure is too high. The high pressure from the heart to the lungs causes narrowing in your pulmonary arteries, restricting blood-flow. This results in the heart having to pump harder so that the lungs receive blood, causing the heart to thicken and weaken. Unfortunately, the end result is heart failure. There is currently no cure for Pulmonary Hypertension. Due to the damage caused to the heart and lungs, a transplant of both organs will be needed.
People with PH often experience symptoms such as shortness of breath, dizziness, fatigue, fainting and pressure in the chest. The symptoms worsen over time; however, with medications and oxygen therapy some relief of symptoms may come and improve the quality of life. Anyone can get Pulmonary Hypertension; any age, race or ethnic background, although there are risk factors that make certain people more susceptible. Women and children seem to be more susceptible to the disease. Children diagnosed with PH are given adult strength medications that have been modified for their weight and size; as there is currently no treatment for them.
The severity of the symptoms usually correlates with how far the disease has progressed. Because PH is so rare and hard to diagnose, it often is thought to be asthma or anxiety; and a lot of times is not diagnosed until the disease is in a severe stage. If PH is diagnosed; usually found by a cardiologist, and treatment is needed a specialist in Pulmonary Hypertension is where individuals are encouraged to go.
More awareness, research and funding for this devastating terminal disease needs to happen. This is why events like the BB&T Woodlands CrawPHish Festival are important. They take place to raise the funds necessary for additional research and support of families affected by this disease.
The BB&T Woodlands CrawPHish Festival will be held Saturday, April 2, 2016 from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. at Town Green Park in The Woodlands, TX. The festival will include a day of authentic Louisiana crawfish, BBQ, fried catfish, live music, a dedicated kids’ zone, networking and a chance to bring awareness to Pulmonary Hypertension, a rare disease. The festival continues to grow each year; adding new PH families and sponsor who join to help raise money for the cause. Thousands of people come to The Woodlands for the event from all over the country.
Together we PHight on! For more information please visit www.phassociation.org
References:
Teresa Meyers Development Manager, Lone Star Chapter PHA
Mayo Clinic
