First Lady Should Tell the Truth about Heart Disease
By Carey Roberts (01/22/07)
This last year I lost three friends to heart disease.
Randy was jogging at a nearby park when he was stricken with a fatal heart attack. Randy was 52 years old, married with two sons.
Bill was diagnosed with a debilitating heart condition five years ago. Doctors ordered him to quit his job to reduce the strain – his wife had never expected to become the primary breadwinner. He died last summer at age 66.
And Paul was playing on his adult soccer team. Suddenly he fell on the field, clutching his chest. I met his widow at the funeral – she looked 35 years old.
Let’s not forget Dr. Lee Jong-Wook, Director-General of the World Health Organization. Last May he checked into the hospital with a throbbing headache. There he was diagnosed with a blood clot, a condition often caused by blood insufficiency. Two days later, at the age of 61, he lay dead.
“There was no warning, no nothing. It was a complete shock,” explained WHO spokesman Iain Simpson.
I’ve looked at government reports and discovered that these men are not unusual. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, men’s risk of dying from heart disease is 50% higher than for women. And more than any other disease, heart disease is the reason why men die five years sooner than women.
Why the sex difference? Because men more often have high blood pressure and smoke cigarettes. And experts believe men are subtly discouraged from seeking help when heart disease lurks in its early stages.
Of course, women also die of heart disease. But those women tend to be in their 60s and 70s, so their numbers are statistically higher than men.
In recent years, First Lady Laura Bush has gotten involved in the national effort to combat heart disease. That’s laudable.
So last February 3, the First Lady described heart disease as, “the number one killer among women in the United States.”[www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/02/20060203-10.html] But no word about heart disease in men.
That seems odd, but maybe she only talked about men the year before, so she was trying to be fair.
But in 2005, her focus was on women. [www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/02/20050201-15.html]
Same for 2004. [www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/02/20040202-2.html]
In 2003, Laura Bush implored, “This Valentine's Day, the American Heart Association wants you to reach out to every woman you know -- every mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt and friend.” [www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030131-43.html] But no mention of fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, or uncles.
Four years in a row, heart disease among men was swept under the rug.
Randy, Bill, and Paul all left widows behind. These ladies have probably never heard of Dr. Lois Verbrugge, a University of Michigan social demographer. A few years ago Verbrugge did a study on the living situation of elderly women. She found that single elderly women are four times more likely to end up in a nursing home, compared to their married counterparts.
So keeping Jack hale and hearty turns out to be good news for Jill, as well.
Maybe the First Lady was doing this at the advice of the Republican political strategists who want to lay claim to the female vote. But they are making a serious mistake, because a base-narrowing strategy is the surest path to electoral disaster.
National Heart Month will be coming up in a few days, and no doubt the First Lady will be alerting Americans to the scourge of heart disease. So this year, Mrs. Bush, why not tell the whole truth?
These are the facts that every American needs to know:
1. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women
2. Men die from heart disease at a much younger age than women, which deprives children of the guiding hand of a father figure, and later places wives at far greater risk of institutionalization.
3. Heart disease is often preventable through a combination of not smoking, low-fat diets, and exercise.
I’m sure the First Lady would like to hear from you – why not give her a call at 202-456-1111? Or drop her an e-mail: comments@whitehouse.gov .
Tell the First Lady about Randy, Bill, and Paul. Remind her about their wives. Or maybe someone who was special to you.
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