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We've seen a lot of red around town this month, which could mean that awareness of women's risk of heart disease is catching on through the national Go Red for Women campaign.
This campaign encourages us to wear red any time of the year, but in particular on the first Friday of February, which is traditionally designated as Heart Month. The goal is to break the old stereotype of heart disease as a "man's disease." The truth is that cardiovascular disease, which includes heart disease and stroke, is the No. 1 killer of women, as well as men.
Local events to spread the word have included a luncheon at the beginning of the month featuring guest speaker Emmy Award-winning actress, singer and dancer Lucie Arnaz, who lost her mother, iconic comedienne Lucille Ball, to an undetected heart condition. The event was sponsored by the LHC Group and the American Heart Association.
Local nurse practitioners have also gone red. They will join the 40,000 members of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners who have partnered with the U.S. Department of Health and Hospitals in the One Million Hearts campaign to reduce the number of instances of heart disease and stroke in both women and men by 1 million over the next five years.
Their efforts, and those of other individuals and groups, are helping to educate the public about the warning signs of cardiovascular disease, and how they can take steps to avoid this fatal, but mostly preventable, disease.
If you ask the average person what disease they fear most, the answer might be cancer. But heart disease and stroke kill more people annually than cancer, respiratory disease and accidents combined, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These related diseases can also be debilitating, affecting quality of life.
More than 2 million Americans have a heart attack or stroke each year. About 815,000 will die, accounting for one in three American deaths. And nearly half of them will be women.
But the number doesn't have to be that high.
One of the best ways to prevent cardiovascular disease is to reduce the risk factors. And that can be done by following the "ABCS," of prevention, said Mary Neiheisel, a University of Louisiana at Lafayette nursing professor and nurse practitioner who holds a doctoral degree.
That acronym refers to taking one low-dose aspirin daily, monitoring and controlling blood pressure and and smoking cessation.
Prevention is something we all can do for themselves to avoid cardiovascular disease.
Learn more about what you can do to avoid developing this potentially fatal and often preventable disease. It just might make your heart feel good.