Ladies, Put on That Red Dress - and Tell Your Men to Wear One Too!
By Robynn Rutledge
May 24, 2004
(Reposted in recognition of February Heart Month.)
While attending an event at the White House in March, I heard the First Lady state that heart disease was the number one cause of death for American women. That's right - American WOMEN. Honestly (and ironically) I don't really remember much else of what she said. I was too awed by my surroundings and the portrait of Lincoln looking down on the activities at hand. But perhaps it was that one statement that made me nag my mother.
Now, flash-forward to the end of April.
My mother called me late one Thursday to say she had an appointment to see a cardiologist the next morning because of these "spells" she had been experiencing. I thought to myself: Good precautionary step - - nothing major. After all, I had started to (subconsciously) notice some disturbing symptoms since my trip to the White House, which I had begun to nag her about - - as had my father.
Then she called me Friday morning and was obviously upset. "I have to have a test done at the hospital. But I won't have to stay overnight." OK...this is starting to sound a little more serious, but the doctor is "working her into the schedule" instead of bumping her in front of someone else. Still not too alarming - or so I thought. So I went to the hospital and joined my father in the waiting area.
Then the doctor called. She must have 5 bypasses and is currently on her way to the cardiac intensive care unit. She's been scheduled for surgery the next morning. My mother has heart disease. Less than 24-hours earlier this was just a precautionary doctor's appointment. What happened?
As we awaited the hourly calls that Saturday morning from the operating room to alert us regarding the progress of mom's surgery, I suddenly found myself needing to know more about this disease that was part of my family history. Sitting in the surgical waiting room, I signed onto my laptop to check my email and surf the internet for information on heart disease. In my mailbox I found the National Federation of Republican Women's weekly Capitol Connection containing a headline called "The Heart Truth Road Show." Once I clicked on this hyperlink, I had a flashback to my afternoon at the White House and First Lady Laura Bush's comment, "Heart disease is the leading cause of death for American women."
Yes, you read right...heart disease! Kills women - - not just men. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) 366,000 women died from heart disease in 2000. If you take the next four leading causes of death in American women, it still doesn't total that for heart disease. The statistics I uncovered that afternoon were staggering.
• Approximately 6.6 million women suffer from heart disease.
• One in every three women dies from heart disease which is the number one killer of women without regard to race or ethnicity.
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