IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 643 

Recognizing women’s cardiovascular health as a critical health care priority 

that affects every State and contributes to increased health care costs, 

and promoting the necessity of increased awareness of and education 

on the symptoms for heart disease among women, gender-specific cardiovascular disease research, and policy action to alleviate the risks of 

heart disease among women. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 18, 2019 

Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER (for herself and Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD) submitted the 

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 

Commerce 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing women’s cardiovascular health as a critical 

health care priority that affects every State and contributes to increased health care costs, and promoting the 

necessity of increased awareness of and education on 

the symptoms for heart disease among women, genderspecific cardiovascular disease research, and policy action 

to alleviate the risks of heart disease among women. 

Whereas heart disease is the number one killer of women in 

the United States; 

Whereas heart disease accounts for the deaths of 400,000 

women each year or 1,080 each day; 


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•HRES 643 IH 

Whereas one in three women die of heart disease or stroke; 

Whereas the symptoms of heart disease and heart attack 

among women are different from those among men; 

Whereas the maternal mortality rate in the United States is 

rising with more than 700 women dying from pregnancyrelated conditions each year, and cardiac disease and 

stroke, the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in 

the United States, is responsible for approximately 34 

percent of these losses; 

Whereas unrecognized symptoms and inadequate treatment 

of cardiovascular disease among women contribute to the 

increasing costs to the United States health care system, 

which, if left unaddressed, are projected to surpass $1 

trillion by 2035; 

Whereas heart attack symptoms among women are not typically recognized and can be as subtle as fatigue, jaw 

pain, shortness of breath, backache, and indigestion; 

Whereas half of all women experiencing heart attacks display 

none of the typically recognized male symptoms; 

Whereas 64 percent of women who die of coronary heart disease show no prior typically recognized symptoms; 

Whereas women are 50 percent more likely to receive an incorrect diagnosis following a heart attack; 

Whereas despite gender differences in physiology and the 

manifestation of cardiovascular disease, women comprise 

only 34 percent of participants in cardiovascular disease 

studies that enroll both men and women; and 

Whereas even when considering all cardiovascular disease-related studies, including single-sex studies, women still 


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comprise only 41 percent of participants: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) recognizes the vital importance of decreas3 ing cardiovascular disease among women; 

4 (2) promotes the necessity of raising awareness 

5 of the preventable ubiquity of cardiovascular mor6 tality among women, and urges a comprehensive 

7 public awareness initiative that establishes best prac8 tices for identifying and treating cardiovascular inci9 dents in women, specifically; 

10 (3) supports efforts to educate women, men, pa11 tients, and physicians about the critical differences 

12 of cardiovascular disease symptoms between women 

13 and men; 

14 (4) supports the promotion of gender-specific 

15 cardiovascular health research, prevention, and 

16 treatment, because— 

17 (A) there is a material difference in the 

18 way women present with cardiovascular or 

19 heart attack symptoms; and 

20 (B) gender-specific cardiovascular research 

21 is essential to driving successful positive out22 comes in the reduction of mortality rates; 

23 (5) affirms the connection between cardio24 vascular disease and preeclampsia in new mothers; 


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•HRES 643 IH 

1 (6) acknowledges that the costs to the health 

2 care system of unrecognized symptoms in the treat3 ment of women can be substantially reduced with 

4 appropriate public policy; and 

5 (7) supports the development of economic im6 pact data to ascertain the health care system costs 

7 to be saved by decreasing the incidents of death due 

8 to unrecognized symptoms of heart attack in women. 

Æ 


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