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Skriven 2005-02-04 23:33:26 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0502049) for Fri, 2005 Feb 4
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Remarks by the First Lady at the Heart Truth Campaign Red Dress Preview
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For Immediate Release
Office of the First Lady
February 4, 2005

Remarks by the First Lady at the Heart Truth Campaign Red Dress Preview



February 4, 2005

REMARKS BY THE FIRST LADY

AT THE HEART TRUTH CAMPAIGN RED DRESS PREVIEW

Time Life Building

New York, New York

10:42 A.M. EST

MRS. BUSH: Thank you very much, Duchess. Thank you for being a great role
model for women everywhere, and thank you also for being a beautiful model
today during the style show. I know you'll be terrific.

As we begin American Heart Month, I'm thrilled that Duchess Sarah Ferguson
and many fashion designers and celebrities are uniting to get the word out
to women about heart disease. We want all women to know the heart truth,
which is that heart disease is the leading cause of death of women in the
United States.

I was surprised when I first heard this. Like many women, I assumed that
heart disease was a man's disease. But this year alone, nearly
half-a-million woman will die from cardiovascular disease in America, about
60,000 more women than men. Doctors and researchers provide hope that we
can control this disease, but when it comes to heart disease, education and
prevention can save lives.

Thanks to Dr. Anne Taylor, Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, and to the many physicians
and heart health organizations here for championing this issue. And special
thanks to my good friend, Karyn Frist. Thank you for joining us here today.

I'm so glad that so many of you wore red on this second annual National
Wear Red Day. We're quite literally joining an army of women who are
committed to creating awareness, even whether they're a continent away.
Today in Iraq, Airman First Class Shay Guesnier, and the women in her unit
are wearing their Red Dress pins to join our mission. The color red
symbolizes our commitment to fight heart disease and to educate every
American about the power of prevention, and we know that nothing attracts
attention like a red dress. (Laughter.)

I'm so excited to be here in America's fashion capital as we unveil the new
2005 Red Dress collection. And three of the dresses are here for us to see
today. Thanks to some of our top designers, the red dress has become an
icon, reminding women that heart disease doesn't care what you wear. And
women are getting and sharing the message. In communities across the
country, women are organizing health fairs, rallies, and their own Red
Dress fashion shows to share the heart truth.

In Omaha, Nebraska, salon owners are learning through community education
projects and then making their clients aware, as they also make them
beautiful. In Springfield, Illinois, women legislators are encouraging
their colleagues and constituents to wear red. And in Jonesboro, Arkansas,
a local designer made more than 20 red dresses for her friends to wear in a
benefit fashion show.

I have been corresponding with an amazing women who helped turn our first
National Wear Red Day into a global affair. A year ago, Corporal Tiara Puro
was stationed in Baghdad with the Utah Army National Guard. She read about
the Heart Truth Campaign and was so inspired by the message that she and
other women in her unit started eating sensibly and exercising more. And on
National Wear Red Day, they wore red with their uniforms to share the Heart
Truth. Tiara recently returned to Utah with a new goal. She speaks to
women's groups about the risk of heart disease, and to students about the
importance of good health. She is building a walking park to promote
exercise and fitness. And tonight, Tiara will host a Love Your Heart Gala,
so that couples can learn about heart disease together.

Women are embracing the Heart Truth and discovering that together, we can
do something about heart disease. After I visited St. Luke's Hospital in
Kansas City in September 2003, I learned firsthand the incredible
difference we can make. When Joyce Cullen woke in the middle of the night
with chest pains, her first thought wasn't a heart attack. Joyce had been
to the doctor a couple of days before, complaining about fatigue, but he
had given her a clean bill of health. But that night, Joyce had watched the
news coverage of my visit to Kansas City, and she had learned the symptoms
of heart disease, and she realized she had many of them. She immediately
went to the hospital, where she suffered a heart attack. Joyce had surgery
and is in good health today.

Now she shares her story with women around the country. Joyce is only one
of thousands of women who are learning about heart disease through this
campaign. The Heart Truth's national partner, the American Heart
Association, has measured changes in awareness about heart disease every
three years since 1997. In 2000, only about 34 percent of women recognized
heart disease as the leading cause of death among women. In 2003, less than
one year after the Heart Truth Campaign began, this number jumped up to 46
percent. And in new research released just this week, 57 percent of women
now know that heart disease is the leading cause of death.

But despite our progress, many women still don't consider heart disease to
be their greatest personal health problem. Even when they hear stories like
that of Joyce Cullen, many women believe that heart disease will never
happen to them, and sadly, neither do many of their doctors. We know that
women are just as prone to heart attacks as men, but new studies show that
many doctors fail to treat women as aggressively as they do men. Doctors
order fewer tests for women and take fewer preventive measures, such as
prescribing drugs to lower cholesterol and blood pressure.

What's also alarming is that many minority women don't realize their
increased risk. Awareness is particularly low among African American and
Hispanic women. To reach more minority women, the Heart Truth Campaign is
partnering with Essence and CATALINA magazines, and organizations like The
Links and the National Black Nurse's Association and the National
Association of Latina Leaders, to ensure that all women know the Heart
Truth.

Maria Perez-Arton learned the truth about heart disease when she suffered a
heart attack at age 54. Maria was in good health and she didn't have a
family history of heart disease. She did have diabetes, and she thought she
knew all the risks associated with this disease. Her doctor informed her of
the possible complications associated with diabetes and of the dangers to
her kidneys, her eyes and her limbs. But no one told Maria about the
greatest complication, a dramatically increased risk for heart disease.
Shortly after dinner one evening, Maria was suffering with what she thought
was severe indigestion. Her husband rushed her to the emergency room, where
Maria was shocked to discover that she was having a heart attack. She had
quadruple bypass surgery, and she is in good health today.

Thank you, Maria, for sharing your story with us today. Maria talks about
heart disease on local television shows and lectures new medical students
about the special risk and symptoms that women face. She also encourages
her family and friends to learn their risk factors, and she tells them that
one of the most significant facts about this disease is that heart disease
is often preventable. In fact, 90 percent of women under the age of 50 who
have heart attacks have at least one risk factor that they can control,
like smoking or being overweight. As we promote awareness among doctors and
minority women, we must do more to empower all women to make their health a
priority.

Studies show that by eating well, exercising, not smoking, maintaining a
healthy weight and visiting their doctor, women can reduce their risk for
heart disease by as much as 82 percent. But, surprisingly -- and this did
really surprise me -- only about three percent of American women actually
do each one of these steps.

We all know we should exercise more, and we know our excuses for not doing
it. We're too busy, or we're too tired, or we're too confused about how
much is enough. But there is one thing, one absolute when it comes to
exercise: Any amount is better than none.

Walking is my favorite form of exercise. I love to walk on the trails at
Camp David or at our ranch in Crawford. So grab a friend or your children
or your dog and go for a walk. With a busy schedule, it's tough to make
time for exercise, but if my mother-in-law, Barbara Bush, can swim 88 laps
at a time, the rest of us can surely walk for 30 minutes. (Laughter and
applause.)

You can't strengthen your heart if you continue to smoke. If you quit
today, your risk of heart disease can be reduced by up to 50 percent in one
to two years. Exercising and not smoking are great steps to good health,
but this must be combined with a healthy diet. For many of us, this is
truly the hard part. I used to resolve to lose weight every New Year's, but
now my resolution is to get and stay healthy. And it's not as simple as it
seems, especially when you have a pastry chef whose idea of a light dessert
is four layers of chocolate instead of six. (Laughter.)

About 30 percent of heart attacks in women are due to obesity. And the
prevalence of obesity in our country is growing at an alarming rate. Nearly
60 million adults in America are obese, and the percentage of young people
who are overweight has more than doubled in the last 20 years. Women are
often the ones who do the grocery shopping and the cooking. We can avoid
junk food by simply not buying it, and we can eat more fruits and
vegetables. It's estimated that women make about 70 percent of their
family's health care decisions. When women improve their own health, they
can improve the health of their families and the health of our country.

We have seen the great benefits a public health campaign can have with the
Pink Ribbon. Remarkably, mortality rates for breast cancer are down to just
four percent. If we can encourage women to take charge of their health and
the health of their families, we can do the same thing for heart disease.

With the many risk factors associated with heart disease, a woman's
greatest risk is ignorance. So I encourage all of you to keep wearing your
favorite red dress, and to tell every woman you know that heart disease
doesn't care what you wear.

Now, I'd like to introduce Dr. Anne Taylor, who is a professor of
cardiology at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Dr. Taylor
chaired the first national clinical study on heart failure in African
Americans. This study led to the development of the first drugs
specifically for a single ethnic group. She is a strong advocate for the
advance of women's heart health, and we're so glad that she's here with us
and that she's joined the Heart Truth Campaign. Please welcome Dr. Anne
Taylor. (Applause.)

END 11:00 A.M. EST

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