SILVER SPRINGS, Maryland � Nov. 14, 2002 � The Miami Sol�s Debbie Black, the 2001 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, is working with the Pulmonary Hypertension Association to help raise awareness of Pulmonary Hypertension (PH), a rare life-threatening disease caused by high blood pressure in the lungs. As part of Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness Month in November, Debbie is joining doctors and PH patients � for whom even routine breathing is a challenge � to speak out about PH. As the shortest player in the WNBA, Debbie understands the difficulty of overcoming adversity and recognizes the insurmountable challenges that PH patients face everyday to survive.

Over 100,000 people in the United States are known to suffer with PH, a disease that has no known cause or cure. Symptoms of PH include shortness of breath, chronic fatigue, dizziness and fainting � although because its symptoms mimic other illnesses, the disease is often misdiagnosed. There may be thousands of individuals with PH who have not yet been diagnosed, so during PH Awareness Month, Debbie Black and the PH Association are focused on creating visibility for the disease, its symptoms and available treatments.

Debbie Black became involved with the PH Association after meeting 15 year-old Hannah Carr, a PH patient who was recently honored for her courage and determination during halftime at a Miami Sol game. �Hannah is a remarkable young lady who has not let PH prevent her from following her dream to play basketball,� said Black. �As a freshman in high school last year, Hannah made her varsity basketball team � an impressive accomplishment for any freshman, but even more impressive given that she plays ball with a tube running into her chest from a pump strapped to her side to treat her PH.�

At five feet three inches tall, Debbie Black is the shortest player in the WNBA and understands what it�s like to face obstacles placed in front of your dreams. �I can relate to Hannah�s challenge of being told you can�t play basketball � because growing up, everyone told me I was too short to play ball. Hannah�s challenge, like that of all PH patients, is so much greater than the one I faced, since for many PH patients, just walking up a flight of stairs leaves them breathless. I can�t imagine not having the lungpower and energy to do the thing I love. I admire Hannah�s drive to not let PH get in the way of her dream.�

�The Pulmonary Hypertension Association has set aside November for the purpose of creating national awareness about PH,� said Rino Aldrighetti, Executive Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Association. �We are extremely happy to have Debbie Black, an individual with tremendous courage and determination of her own, on our side to help raise awareness of this debilitating disease.�

�While there is no cure for PH, there are treatments available that can help improve quality of life and prolong life expectancy,� said Dr. Richard Channick, University of California at San Diego. �But because the disease often goes undiagnosed � often not recognized until years after the first symptoms appear � many PH patients live without treatment. By increasing visibility of the disease throughout PH Awareness month, we hope to help facilitate its early diagnosis.�

Current treatments for PH include: