“Heart disease and stroke are the number one killers of American women today,” Stabenow said.  “And while medical science has made great strides in reducing heart related deaths among men, the death rate for women from cardiovascular disease has actually gone up in the last 25 years.  This is totally unacceptable.  We all have to stop thinking of heart disease as a ‘man’s disease’ and start insisting on improvements in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of heart disease among women.  By taking these simple steps in the fight against women’s heart disease we will be able to ensure that even more of our mothers, sisters, daughters and friends are here to celebrate many Valentine’s Days to come.”

“In my State of Alaska – taken together – heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death, totaling nearly 800 deaths each year.  Women in Alaska have higher death rates from stroke than do women nationally,” said Murkowski. “That is why I am pleased to join my colleague from Michigan, Senator Stabenow, to introduce important legislation, the HEART for Women Act, or Heart disease Education, Analysis and Research, and Treatment for Women Act.  This important bill improves the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of heart disease and stroke in women so that we can reverse the disturbing statistics.”

“Few people realize that heart disease is the number one killer of women, and too many women pay the price for that lack of knowledge,” Capps said.  “This bill would fill that gap, ensuring that all health care professionals have access to the latest research about the risks of cardiovascular disease in women – and how it affects women differently than men.  Women nationwide need to have access to high-quality screenings for heart disease and stroke to help with early diagnosis and effective treatment.  This bill will help ensure that is the case.”

“Heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular disease are the #1 killer of women in Wyoming,” Cubin said. “In fact, in Wyoming almost two women every day die from some type of cardiovascular disease.  With increased awareness of these dangers and better prevention, Wyoming's future generations of women will not have to fear the dangers of cardiovascular disease."

One in three adult women suffers from some form of cardiovascular disease, and heart disease kills more women than the next five causes of death combined.  Yet women are less likely than men to receive aggressive treatment for heart disease, a fact that isn’t surprising given that less than one in five physicians recognize that more women die of heart disease each year then men.

The Heart for Women Act takes a 3-pronged approach to reducing the cardiovascular disease death rate for women, through improved health education, gender specific analysis and research, and increased access to screening for women.

Doctors need to know the facts about women and heart disease before they can be expected to properly treat them.  The HEART for Women Act authorizes grants to educate doctors about the unique aspects of preventing, diagnosing and treating women with heart disease. 

Most research and analysis concerning heart disease has for too long ignored the fact that cardiovascular diseases affect women and men differently.  This is why the HEART for Women Act also requires that the health information that is already being reported to the federal government be gender-specific, while calling for annual recommendations to Congress on ways to improve the treatment of heart disease for women. 

Finally, the HEART for Women Act focuses on the importance of heart disease screening among women by expanding a current program run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called WISEWOMAN.  This program, currently available in only 14 states, provides free heart disease and stroke screenings to low-income uninsured women.  By taking this program nationwide we will be able to give even more women the number one tool in fighting any disease, the ability for early detection.

These are simple, cost-effective, but meaningful steps that Congress can take that will help get the death rate for women from heart disease and stroke going in the right direction—down.