Posted on 01/30/2008 9:51:42 AM PST by FreeManDC
Ladies, when was the last time you visited a nursing home? Did you wonder why nearly all the residents were women? The reason is simple — men meet their maker 5 years sooner than members of the fairer sex.
It wasn't always that way. Back in 1920, men and women had almost identical life spans. But the looming threat of heart disease widened that gap. American men now have heart disease death rates that are 50% higher than women's. (The federal report Health, United States, 2007, Table 29 reveals the death rates are 268 in men, compared to only 177 in women).
Most persons have never heard of Lois Verbrugge, a researcher at the University of Michigan. A few years ago Dr. Verbrugge did a study on elderly women. She found that compared to their married counterparts, single elderly women are four times more likely to end up in a nursing home.
Which means after your husband dies of heart disease, you are four times more likely to be removed from your home and taken to an institutional setting to spend your last days in medicated bliss. That's what happened to several ladies I've known.
And what about men who keel over from heart disease in their 40s and 50s? What happens to their wives and children?
Last year my friend Bill died from a debilitating heart problem. His wife never wanted to be the family breadwinner. That's what she's doing now.
And Randy died suddenly while jogging one morning. His two sons, now in their 20s, will never again experience a father's love.
So men are at far greater risk of heart disease, and their premature deaths portend institutionalization and financial hardship for their wives.
You'd think the American Heart Association would have programs designed especially to help men. They don't.
But not to worry, the AHA does have a gender-specific program — "Go Red for Women."
That's right, the Heart Association has designated this Friday, February 1 as National Wear Red Day. Here's the latest fashion tip from the AHA:
"National Wear Red Day has its own dress code. Wear your favorite red clothes or accessory — a red blouse, a red dress pin, a fabulous red handbag."
That's not all: "Put on red lipstick, or sport a red tie and red socks. Go red in your own fashion show to show your support for women and the fight against heart disease." [www.goredforwomen.com/national_wear_red_day.aspx]
Really folks, I'm not making this up!
So when you pay a visit to grandma at the nursing home this weekend, she's gonna feel a whole lot better if you're sporting red socks and red shoes. And that widow who lives down the street — be sure to remind her to pull out that fabulous red handbag she stowed away after the funeral.
To complete the irony of Go Red for Women, show her a tribute card, courtesy of the AHA: "Go Red for Women — American Heart Association — A donation has been made in honor of [fill in name of former husband, father, brother, or son]."
Seriously, when it comes to the real needs of real women, it's obvious the pointy-headed execs at the AHA don't have a clue. So it's up to women bring the Heart Association to its senses.
Call Mr. Cass Wheeler, head of the American Heart Association. His number is 1-800-242-8721. Send a message to the PR department: elizabeth.moreno@heart.org [elizabeth.moreno-at-heart.org]. Or just call your local heart association office.
We all want to know how the American Heart Association answers these two questions:
1. Why does the Heart Association want to deprive aging women of the main source of their financial support?
2. Why does the AHA want to send more elderly women to nursing homes?
And while we're at it, why don't we ask if they believe men's hearts count for less?
Very interesting observations.
AIDS saw to it that health concerns were forever politicized.
HPV is spread by men and women. Men and women get cancer from HPV. Some states have seen fit to mandate that all girls get the HPV vaccine.
Divide and conquer.
The AHA and the medical establishment will tell you that this heart disease is a lifestyle disease. They won’t say the same about AIDS, though.
The AHA is probably positioning to squawk for donations from the latest widows who lost their husbands to heart disease.
Ha, this person hasn’t been to many nursing homes lately.
Trust me: you don’t have to be nearly old enough to expire due to heart disease before your loving family is willing to file you away in one of these hellholes.
Men sure don’t have it easy.
Spousal IRAs.
“Men dying of heart disease, womyn and children hardest hit.”
And that is why 20 year level TERM life insurance is a MUST. Get between 5 and 10 times your annual income (preferrably 10 times). A non-smoker 30 years old can get $500,000 for less than $30 a month. Stay away from whole life. It's a rip off.
I always thought the 5 year difference was a reward from God ;-).
Thats why I married a fellow five years my junior.
Shouldn’t be hard to figure out. Let the guys die first. When the women go into the nursing homes, the homes can take all the money. I sorta went through this with my mother. My father died first. A couple of years later, my mother had to have bypass surgery and had a stroke. She went to a nursing home for recovery and they said she would never come out. We moved her out and she finally died at home where she belonged. She was happy, we had her around for awile longer. It wasn’t easy but she sure gave us a lot of good memories. Oh.....by the way....the nursing home didn’t get all her money.
From what I understand, the conversation at the hospital while he was gone was pretty funny.
"We lost Mr. Cook!"
"He's dead? Why wasn't I notified when he went into arrest?"
"No! We lost him. We don't know where he is!"
Dad didn't mind being buried in a box as much as he objected to living in one. He lived as he wanted, and died younger than he could have. Many men would rather have the cigarette and the red meat and die at 60 than sit in the corner be a good boy.
You know ... the one where they toss in the wife, horse, swords, etc. etc.?
I used to work for the AHA at the Nat’l HQ and I can attest that they are a very highly PC group with a feminist and gay agenda that would shock many progressives in its stridency. The AHA does not tell you the first signs of heart disease for most people is sudden death.
Because it if primarily men who suffer from heart disease, the majority of the funding for heard disease research is already going to help men.
It's not the AHA's fault that more men die from heart disease than women any more than it is the fault of groups fighting breast cancer that more women die from breast cancer than men.
The Go Red for Women program is probably the result of Women who are active in supporting Heart Disease awareness feeling like women get left out because most of the generalized programs end up concentrating on men.
The American Heart Association doesn't cause heart disease.
They aren't at fault when men die from heard disease before women.
It doesn't matter how much good some organization does, there will always be those out there that blame them simply because they aren't able to solve every problem.
The Scriptures say that a man who does not provide for his family is worse than an infidel. So it is the responsibility of every man to provide for his wife and children even in the possibility of his death.
Dave Ramsey is right!
1) Get the Will! Don't let the courts and the lawyers get your money instead of your wife and kids.
2) Get a Living will. Same reason as #1
3) Get Life Insurance! If you don't have enough in the bank to take care of your wife (even into her old age) and young kids to adulthood, Life Insurance is a MUST!
4) Save for Retirement! Who believes Social Security will be around in 20 years. Most companies do not give Pensions anymore. If your not getting your companies matching 401k/Roth funds - you are a FOOL! If your company doesn't have a 401k/Roth and you don't have one, Open one at a bank/credit union Today! Make Regular or AUTOMATIC DEPOSITS.
5) Save for Kids College. If you have kids under 10, open a savings or other account for each child with Regular or Automatic Deposits. If you have a kid over 10 and you don't have anything saved! STEP ON IT! Your time is short.
Women, smile at the man and ask him if he loves you in these 5 things. Keep doing that until he does them.
It’s a free country.... But I would bet that your wife might not like being tossed on your funeral pyre.
According to Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taube, which I find as one of the most brilliant books that I have read, heart disease is almost entirely a function of carbodyrate consumption. I guess if you take it seriously, the problem must be with more carbs for the men.
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