For Immediate Release
Office of the First Lady
July 15, 2004
Remarks by First Lady Laura Bush at Heart Truth Event
St. Vincent's Medical Center Jacksonville, Florida
10:36 A.M. EDT
MRS. BUSH: Joyce, thank you very, very much. Thanks for sharing
your story.
Joyce makes a very good point. And that is, it's not just women
that need to be educated about heart disease but, in fact, the medical
community, really our whole community needs to be educated. So many of
us think of heart disease as a man's disease only. And so thank you,
Joyce, for getting the word out to everyone here in this community and
all over, that heart disease strikes women and men in the United
States.
We have a lot in common, Joyce and I do. We both want to get this
word out and we both love gardening. And we both know what it's like
to raise teenagers. (Laughter.)
My daughter, Jenna, is traveling with me today and it's been great
fun to spend more time with my daughters since they graduated from
college last spring. Although I must say I haven't missed the
critiques of my hairstyle. (Laughter.) But it's been really fun to
have them with me.
Thank you all. Thank you all very much for your warm welcome, and
special thanks to the members of the United States Navy who are here
from Jacksonville -- (applause).
President Bush and I appreciate your dedication and the dedication
of your families. And I know I can speak for all Americans when I say
how much we appreciate the men and women of the United States military
who defend freedom around the world. (Applause.)
I actually have been e-mailing a few women who are serving in the
military in Iraq about the Heart Truth. And they emailed me their
goals. These are young women, of course. But their goals are to
exercise and to choose healthy foods and to quit smoking. Some of them
smoked and wanted to quit smoking. And then their last goal every time
is what they do with their healthy heart, and that is to help other
people. So that's been very sweet for me to have this chance to e-mail
women who are serving in our military in Iraq.
I'm so pleased to be here at St. Vincent's Cardiac Center. Mr.
Maher, thank you, Mrs. Darnell and all the doctors and nurses here that
make St. Vincent's a national center of excellence.
And I'm very happy to welcome Barbara Alving who is here with us
today, Dr. Barbara Alving of the National Heart, Lung and Blood
Institute. And thank you all for sponsoring the Heart Truth Campaign.
We want every woman to know the Heart Truth, which is that heart
disease is the leading cause of death for women in America. The symbol
of the Heart Truth is the red dress that we're all wearing. I love
looking out here in the crowd, too, and I see a lot of red dresses and
a few red ties. (Laughter.)
The symbol of the red dress reminds women about the risk for heart
disease. I've worn every red dress or suit that I have as I've
traveled across the country, talking to women about heart disease. I
also wear the red dress pin to remind women that heart disease doesn't
care what you wear.
Many of the women on stage with me have learned this first hand.
They survived a heart attack and they're committed to educating others
about prevention. I hope that each one of you will do the same thing
when you leave here today.
This is vitally important because half a million women will die
from cardiovascular disease this year in America. In fact, for the
last 20 years, more women than men have died of cardiovascular
disease.
What's most alarming is that many women don't know their risk.
Many believe that cancer is their greatest concern. Yet heart disease
kills more women in our country than all forms of cancer combined.
Doctors and researchers provide hope that we can control this
disease. But when it comes to heart disease, very often our health is
in our own hands. Prevention and education can save lives.
Women love to share advice. When a friend tells us about a new
miracle wrinkle cream, we immediately run out and buy it. (Laughter.)
Or if a coworker gives us a recipe for fat-free double fudge brownies,
we race home and try it. (Laughter.) But if a friend tells us that
heart disease is the leading cause of death for women and that we need
to get a checkup, we dismiss it and say, oh, I'll go when I have time.
The time to address heart disease is now.
Some of you are here because you managed to squeeze an extra hour
out of your day, and you're probably thinking at this very moment that
you should be at the market or in a board meeting, or making cookies
for the baseball team. As wives, mothers, daughters and sisters, we
spend more time taking care of other people instead of ourselves. Oh,
we may soak in the tub or get a facial, but these are little perks that
make us look good on the outside.
I'm talking about taking care of our heart by eating healthy,
exercising, not smoking and visiting the doctor. Studies show that by
leading a healthy lifestyle, women can reduce their risk for heart
disease by as much as 82 percent. But only 3 percent of American women
actually do every one of these steps.
Sharon Sullivan learned the truth about heart disease when her twin
sister, Sandra, suffered a heart attack at the age of 43. Sandra's
20-year-old daughter lived at home with her at the time. Normally,
when her daughter would leave for the day, she'd just holler goodbye to
Sandra from the front door. But that day, she decided to tell her
mother in person, and she found Sandra having a heart attack in her
bedroom.
Sandra's sister, Sharon, was shocked. Both she and Sandra were in
good health and they didn't have a family history of heart disease.
And the only symptom that Sandra experienced before her heart attack
were fatigue and shortness of breath. Sandara was rushed to the
hospital, where she had surgery.
She is doing well today and she continues to be an inspiration to
her sister and to others. Today, both Sharon and Sandra eat more
fruits and vegetables, they exercise every day and they visit their
doctor regularly. Sharon encourages her family and friends to learn
their risk factors and she tells them 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 they can control, like smoking or
overweight. We all know we should exercise and we all 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 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. Grab a friend, your
children or your dog and go for a walk. With a busy schedule, it's
tough to make time for exercise. But I try to walk at least three
times a week. And 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.)
You can't strengthen your heart if you continue to smoke. If you
quit today, your risk of heart disease can be reduced 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 especially love enchiladas and barbecue.
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 seven. (Laughter.)
About 30 percent of heart attacks in women are due to obesity or
being overweight. 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. If I can get my husband to eat
broccoli -- (laughter) -- we can all eat extra servings of vegetables
every day.
Amazingly, it's estimated that women make 70 percent of their
families' health care decisions. When women improve their own health,
they can improve the health of their families, and the health of our
country.
Exercise and healthy eating will make you feel great, but only a
doctor can give you a clean bill of health. I urge you to visit your
doctor and learn the risk factors. Even if you're feeling fine, get
your blood pressure and your blood sugar tested and your cholesterol
checked, and learn the symptoms associated with a heart attack.
Women like Sandra often have what's called a silent heart attack,
one without symptoms. Studies show that the symptoms women do
experience, like fatigue, nausea, dizziness and shortness of breath are
so common that many of them don't realize they're symptoms of a heart
attack.
Waiting for intense or severe symptoms that may never come can be
deadly. Early and aggressive treatment can stop a heart attack in its
tracks.
Preventive screenings, healthy eating and exercise are vital steps
we can take to improve our health. But the best preventive medicine is
education.
I recently visited St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, to
talk with women about heart disease. A few days after my visit, the
doctor sent me an inspiring story about the power of education. When
Joyce Cullen woke in the middle of the night with a chest pain, her
first thought wasn't a heart attack. Like Joyce, she had been to the
doctor, a couple of days before and he had given her a clean bill of
health.
But Joyce had watched the news coverage of my visit to Kansas City
and she had learned the symptoms of heart disease. She realized that
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. And now she shares
her story with women around the country. Joyce is proof that by
informing women about heart disease and educating every American about
prevention, we can save lives. With the many risk factors for heart
disease, our greatest risk is ignorance.
And since everyone here now knows the risk for heart disease,
please share the Heart Truth. We've seen the great benefits a public
health campaign can have with the pink ribbon. Amazingly, mortality
rates for breast cancer are down to 4 percent. If we take charge of
our health and the health of our families, we can do the same thing for
heart disease.
So go home, pull our your favorite red dress, and tell every woman
you know that heart disease doesn't care what you wear. You owe it to
your friends and your loved ones, and, most important, you owe it to
yourselves.
Thank you all very, very much. Thanks for spreading the word.
(Applause.)
END 10:48 A.M. EDT
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