110 HCON 51 IH: Supporting the goals and ideals of National U.S. House of Representatives 2007-01-31 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

IV 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. CON. RES. 51 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 31, 2007 Ms. Millender-McDonald submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Supporting the goals and ideals of National Wear Red Day.

Whereas heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States; Whereas it is estimated that 42.1 million American women have 1 or more types of heart disease, including high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, stroke, and congenital heart defects; Whereas extensive clinical and statistical studies have identified major and contributing factors that increase the risk of heart disease; Whereas these studies have identified the following as major risk factors that cannot be changed: age (the risk of developing heart disease gradually increases as people age; advanced age significantly increases the risk); gender (women’s risk rises sharply after menopause; each year more women than men have a stroke); and heredity (children of parents with heart disease are more likely to develop it themselves; African Americans have more severe high blood pressure than Caucasians and therefore are at higher risk; the risk is also higher among Latina Americans, some Asian Americans, and Native Americans and other indigenous populations); Whereas these studies have identified the following as major risk factors that American women can modify, treat or control by changing their lifestyle or seeking appropriate medical treatment: high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, smoking tobacco products and exposure to tobacco smoke, physical inactivity, obesity, and diabetes mellitus; Whereas these studies have identified the following as contributing risk factors that American women can also take action to modify, treat or control by changing their lifestyle or seeking appropriate medical treatment: individual response to stress, excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages, use of certain illegal drugs, and hormone replacement therapy; Whereas more than 39 million American women have high blood pressure; Whereas more than 19.7 million America women have cholesterol levels in excess of 240 mg/dL, the level at which it becomes a major risk factor; Whereas an estimated 21 million American women put themselves at risk for heart disease every day by smoking cigarettes; Whereas data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that more than 60 percent of American adults do not get enough physical activity, and more than 25 percent are not physically active at all; Whereas 62 percent of Americans women are overweight or obese; Whereas it is estimated that more than 10 million American women have diabetes and that 65 percent of those so afflicted will die of some form of heart disease; Whereas the American Heart Association projects that in 2007 485,000 American women will have a first or recurrent heart attack and that 45 percent of these women will die as a result; Whereas 35 percent of American women who suffer a heart attack in 2007 will suffer a recurrent attack within 6 years; Whereas 38 percent of American women who suffer their first heart attack in 2007 will die within 1 year; Whereas in 2007 approximately 374,000 American women will suffer a new or recurrent stroke and 92,000 of these women will die as a result; Whereas advances in medical research have significantly improved the capacity of American women to fight heart disease by providing greater knowledge about its causes, innovative diagnostic tools to detect the disease, and new and improved treatments that help people survive and recover from this disease; Whereas National Wear Red Day is sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health of the Department of Health and Human Services, as an annual event held on the first Friday in February to increase awareness among American women about their risk of heart disease; and Whereas National Wear Red Day 2007 will be observed on Friday, February 2, 2007: Now, therefore, be it

That the Congress— (1)supports the goals and ideals of National Wear Red Day; (2)encourages Americans nationwide to take women's health to heart by wearing red on National Wear Red Day 2007 to show their support for women's heart disease awareness; (3)encourages Americans nationwide to support The Heart Truth, the national awareness campaign designed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to alert women about their risk for heart disease; (4)encourages all American women, especially women ages 40 to 60, the time when a woman's risk of heart disease starts to rise, to embrace the goals of The Heart Truth campaign and take action to modify, prevent, and control their risk factors for heart disease; (5)encourages all Americans, men and women alike, to take to heart the 4 simple healthy life, healthy heart goals identified by the HealthierUS Initiative of the Department of Health and Human Services: exercise regularly and maintain a healthy weight; develop good eating habits; avoid tobacco products, drugs and excessive alcohol; and have regular medical checkups to take advantage of screenings that can detect heart-disease related problems early; (6)recognizes and reaffirms our Nation’s commitment to fighting heart disease by promoting awareness about its causes, risks, and prevention and by promoting new education programs, supporting research, and expanding access to medical treatment; and (7)recognizes all Americans battling heart disease, expresses gratitude to their family members and friends who are a source of love and encouragement as they combat this disease, and salutes the health care professionals and medical researchers who provide assistance to those so afflicted and continue to work to find cures and improve treatments.