Go Red in FebruaryGo Red in February Only 13 percent of women view heart disease as a health threat, even though it is women’s No. 1 killer.
Join thousands of women across the US and wear RED on Friday, February 1, 2008 and again on Sunday, February 3rd. Visit the GO RED table Sunday morning and make a pledge to love your heart!
Risk factors for heart disease include:
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Diabetes
• Smoking
• Being overweight
• Being physically inactive
• Family history of heart disease
• Age (for women, over 55)
Visit www.goredforwomen.org and take the Heart Checkup. Use the results to partner with your health care provider and develop an action plan to address your risk factors and learn your numbers: blood pressure, cholesterol (LDL and HDL in addition to the total cholesterol) and your blood sugar. Some risks factors such as age and family history cannot be changed. For women, age becomes a factor because women are more likely to develop heart disease after menopause. Women who go through early menopause, either naturally, after hysterectomy or as a result of chemotherapy are twice as likely to develop heart disease as women their age who have not experienced menopause.
To protect your heart, address EACH risk factor you have. Exercising regularly won’t compensate for smoking. Risk factors individually increase a woman’s chances for developing heart disease. Multiple risk factors “gang up” and create more serious risk. So the message is clear – begin now to learn about your risks factors! Exercise, enjoy a heart healthy diet, stop smoking and control your diabetes.