March 29, 2024

Go Red

heart.jpgHeart disease is the # 1 cause of death among women. It affects more women than breast cancer or any of the other top 7 killers combined.

Friday, February 2 is the American Heart Association’s Go Red campaign to raise awareness because there are some factors you can control in order to prevent heart disease.

Only 13% of women feel heart disease is a threat. One in 2.6 female deaths are from cardiovascular disease, compared with one in 30 from breast cancer.

Some factors you can control are:

  • Physical inactivity – lack of physical activity can lead to coronary heart disease;
  • High blood pressure – this can increase your change of stroke or heart attack;
  • Smoking – if you smoke you increase your chance of developing coronary heart disease two to four times;
  • Obesity – if you have excess weight, especially in the waist area you’re more likely to develop heart disease or stroke.

For this and more click here: Know Your Numbers

In addition to those factors you can control, Macy’s is sponsoring this campaign by giving away a free red dress pin to anyone who supports the movement.

Celestial Seasoning is also going red. Vanilla Rose Decaf and Black Cherry Pomegranate use heart healthy ingredients. “A group of studies suggest that those who drink two to three cups of either green or black tea daily are 56% more likely than non-drinkers to survive a heart attack.” A portion of these specially marked, red dress tea boxes will go towards other organizations helping to support women and healthy hearts.

8th Continent Soymilk is doing their part too. With the inception of red dress on containers in November 2005 over $150,000 has been given to WomenHeart.

Are YOU going RED?

For more resources click here.

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6 thoughts on “Go Red

  1. Sad that so few people take heart disease for real. After having a mild heart attack in my mid 20s its hard to watch peoples habits take them down a road they’re clueless about! There are so many things we can do to help prevent it. GO RED!

  2. Go Red! I agree this is vital information, thanks for compiling so many great resources for us, Colleen!

    RedRunner, thank you for sharing where you’re coming from! I’m so glad your attack was mild and that you’re actively making a difference in preventing it from sneaking up on others! When I was in high school, a young mother (under thirty) had just given birth and died of a heart attack. Talk about staggering everyone who knew her. Horrible shock. You just don’t think about it happening to young adults.

  3. Thanks Mary. It was great working with you. You’ve done a great job this week, posting on two sites! I can barely keep up with one!

    Red Runner I’m sorry to hear about your mild heart attack. I had a friend who was in his mid twenties with some heart issues as well. It was quite a scare. Thanks for sharing.

  4. There are differences in how women and men respond to a heart attack. Women are less likely than men to believe they’re having a heart attack and more likely to delay in seeking emergency treatment.

    Women should learn the heart attack warning signs. These are:

    Pain or discomfort in the center of the chest.

    Pain or discomfort in other areas of the upper body, including the arms, back, neck, jaw, or stomach.

    Other symptoms, such as a shortness of breath, breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea, or light-headedness.

    As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting, and back or jaw pain.

  5. Good to know, Leticia, thanks! I never knew about jaw pain being a symptom.

    I have a “grr!” though, regarding symptoms…a friend of mine went to the ER with classic signs of a heart attack and the dr on call dismissed her out of hand (friend thinks dr is biased against her)…then same friend’s husband went in with exact same symptoms months later, same dr on call and this time she sat up and took notice. He got the royal treatment. I think dr’s sometimes err by thinking because a man decides it’s bad enough to seek treatment, then it must be serious.

    :blink: This kind of thing is exactly why I don’t recommend our local hospital!

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