[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 17 (Thursday, February 4, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E167]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN RECOGNITION OF NATIONAL WEAR RED DAY TO PROMOTE WOMEN'S HEART HEALTH 
                           AND HEALTH PARITY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. GARY C. PETERS

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 4, 2010

  Mr. PETERS. Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me as I 
recognize National Wear Red Day this Friday, February 5, to raise 
awareness of and support women's heart health.
  Heart disease is the number one killer of women. In Michigan, more 
than 43 women die each day from heart disease and stroke. In fact, 
since 1984, more women than men die of heart disease each year and the 
gap between men and women's survival continues to widen.
  These deaths are largely preventable. For too long, medical 
professionals and the public at large have viewed heart disease as a 
``man's disease.'' This attitude is still manifested today. Women 
comprise only 24 percent of participants in all heart-related studies. 
Women wait longer than men to go to an emergency room when having a 
heart attack and physicians are slower to recognize the presence of 
heart attacks in women because ``characteristic'' patterns of chest 
pain and EKG changes are less frequently present. After heart attack, 
women are less likely than men to receive beta blockers, ACE inhibitors 
and aspirin--therapies known to improve survival. This contributes to a 
higher rate of complications after heart attacks in women, even after 
adjusting for age. Consequently, 38 percent of women, compared to 25 
percent of men, will die within one year of a first recognized heart 
attack.
  Heart health is just one area of the health care disparities between 
men and women, so the Wear Red Campaign is critical to leveling that 
playing field. But along with heart health, we must do more to ensure 
health parity for women in all aspects of health care. So, I am so 
proud today to stand with the American Heart Association and the 
hundreds of thousands of women and men who support this important cause 
and I am proud to continue to fight in Congress and support health 
parity for women in all aspects of health care.

                          ____________________