•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 pregnancy- 
related 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 typi-
cally 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 dis-
ease show no prior typically recognized symptoms; 
Whereas women are 50 percent more likely to receive an in-
correct 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-re-
lated studies, including single-sex studies, women still 
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•HRES 643 IH 
comprise only 41 percent of participants: Now, therefore, 
be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) recognizes the vital importance of decreas-
ing cardiovascular disease among women; 
(2) promotes the necessity of raising awareness 
of the preventable ubiquity of cardiovascular mor-
tality among women, and urges a comprehensive 
public awareness initiative that establishes best prac-
tices for identifying and treating cardiovascular inci-
dents in women, specifically; 
(3) supports efforts to educate women, men, pa-
tients, and physicians about the critical differences 
of cardiovascular disease symptoms between women 
and men; 
(4) supports the promotion of gender-specific 
cardiovascular health research, prevention, and 
treatment, because— 
(A) there is a material difference in the 
way women present with cardiovascular or 
heart attack symptoms; and 
(B) gender-specific cardiovascular research 
is essential to driving successful positive out-
comes in the reduction of mortality rates; 
(5) affirms the connection between cardio-
vascular disease and preeclampsia in new mothers; 
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•HRES 643 IH 
(6) acknowledges that the costs to the health 
care system of unrecognized symptoms in the treat-
ment of women can be substantially reduced with 
appropriate public policy; and 
(7) supports the development of economic im-
pact data to ascertain the health care system costs 
to be saved by decreasing the incidents of death due 
to unrecognized symptoms of heart attack in women. 
Æ 
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