Two national health organizations are teaming up in an Orwellian effort
to pander to women and mislead the American public about the threat of
heart disease.
First, for those of us who care about such things, the facts. According
to the latest government report, men die an average of 5.4 years before
women.
The main reason for that disparity in life expectancy is heart disease.
Heart disease is the number one killer of men and women alike.
But men's risk of dying from heart disease is far greater than women's -
about 50% higher. These are the actual numbers from the recent report,
Health, United States, 2004: The adjusted heart disease death rates in
2002 were 297 per
100,000 persons for men and 197 for women.
Those figures actually understate the extent of the problem, because
when men die of heart disease, they are typically in their 40s and 50s,
whereas women usually die of heart disease at a later age.
This means that when women die from this condition, their kids are out
on their own. But men stricken by heart disease are still the main
breadwinners for the family, working overtime to pay off the mortgage
and driving the kids to soccer practice. His untimely death is a medical
and financial disaster for the wife and kids.
Public health experts have a way of gauging that age effect - it's
called "Years of potential life lost." So in 2002, the number of
potential years lost due to heart disease was 1,707 for men, and only
749 for women. That's more than a two-fold difference.
But we live in an Alice-in-Wonderland world where the wishes of women
necessarily trump the medical necessities of men. Thus, we are told that
we should be more concerned about women, not men, who are at risk of
heart disease.
So get ready for National Wear Red Day on Friday, February 4. The
American Heart Association and the National Institutes of Health are
urging women to wear red that day, using the predictable feminist
jargon, in order to "share the power."
But this event is not limited to one day - it's a full-fledged campaign.
All across the country, local chapters of the American Heart Association
will be celebrating every manner of activity, including Woman-to-Woman
conferences, Wear Red Day, and
Go
Red for Women luncheons.
Ironically, these AHA events are all co-sponsored by Pfizer
Pharmaceuticals, the folks who make millions of dollars selling Viagra
to men.
Orwellians always try to cover their tracks by invoking the notion of
"truth." The Wear Red Day campaign is no exception to that rule.
Go to the National Institutes of Health website, and there you will see
how the decidely one-sided "truth" will be presented at a series of
Heart
"Truth" Events.
These events include an Olympus Fashion Week, Single City Community
Events, outreach to health professionals, and the Heart Truth Road Show.
How do upstanding organizations like the American Heart Association and
National Institutes of Health justify the embarrassing neglect of men's
hearts?
Here's what Dr. Augustus Grant, president of the American Heart
Association, had to say: "Heart disease kills more American women than
any other disease, yet surveys show that when you ask women to name
their No. 1 health threat, less than half answer correctly."
But the AHA didn't even bother to survey men. Sometimes you almost have
to feel sorry for those afflicted by political correctness, persons who
are so easily taken in by their pat answers and delusions of gender
enlightenment.
Propaganda campaigns always have their share of sweet ironies. And here,
the Heart Truth website talks about women celebrating the impending
Valentine's Day.
But when those women open their husband's gift of mouth-watering
chocolates, how many will realize that they may well spend their Golden
Years alone, ruing the fact that their husband's life was cut short by
heart disease?
And as they are lovingly handed that bunch of red roses, how many single
girls know their boyfriend faces a 50% greater risk of dying of heart
disease than they do?
On February the fourth, as these women admire the svelte models
strolling down the runway at the Red Dress Collection Fashion Show, how
many will appreciate the irony?
