While investigating the benefits, side effects and alternatives for a new hypertension medication prescribed for me, I've launched an internet, telephone flurry of information-gathering research regarding women's heart health.
The little research I've accomplished so far has revealed...little research. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has some information, and I ordered a couple studies regarding women and heart health. The CDC is able to show us where women, heart disease and mortality intersect by county.
Women face many issues regarding heart health, including lack of research. Most research historically has included men only. Women do not present heart disease in the same way men do. Women are not queried, diagnosed, treated similarly. Women face mortality as a result of undiagnosed heart disease in scary percentages compared to men. Women's survivability after a first heart attack is significantly lower than men.
It is astonishing to find that experts currently estimate that one of two women will die of heart disease or stroke. This compares to 1 in 25 women who will die of breast cancer. Michigan exceeds the national overall for percentage of population by gender for this unfortunate statistic, according to the 2005 U.S. Census, and the Center for Disease Control findings published as Heart Disease Death Rates 2000-2004.
I found this link to a bill that has been reintroduced in the U.S. Congress.
http://www.womenheart.org/takeAction/hotTopics.cfm#
The Heart for Women Act (H.R. 1032/S.422) was reintroduced on February 12 by Congresswomen Lois Capps (D-CA), Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), and Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).
Please take the time to send your Senators, and Congresspeople a message to support it. Senator Debbie Stabenow is one of the co-sponsors. Kudos to Michigan's own Senator Stabenow!
And kudos to the women who are taking care of their well-being, and each other.
Check out this link:
http://www.sistertosister.org
Sisters are doing it for themselves!
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