Go Red!

It’s way more than a little red dress … Go Red! For Women is a nationwide call to increase awareness of women’s heart health and serve as a catalyst to improve healthy heart behaviors.

Heart disease kills more women than all cancers combined and is a woman’s greatest health threat, claiming the lives of one in three American women each year. It’s the number one killer of women, regardless of race or ethnicity.

Heart disease can diminish health, well-being and the ability to complete simple activities like climbing stairs. Since two-thirds of women who have heart attacks never fully recover, and all heart attack victims have an increased risk of a second heart attack, it can decrease your quality of life.

Risk factors for heart disease include high blood pressure, diabetes, poor diet, abnormal cholesterol levels, cigarette smoking and a family history of heart or vascular disease, among others.

However, nearly 80 percent of cardiac events can be prevented. By focusing on seven key health factors and behaviors – what the American Heart Association calls Life’s Simple 7 – you can keep your heart healthy, lower your risks of heart disease and stroke, and improve your quality of life.

            Life’s Simple 7

• Get active
• Eat better
• Lose weight/maintain healthy weight
• Control cholesterol
• Manage blood pressure
• Reduce blood sugar
• Stop smoking

Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center is hosting a Go Red! For Women Heart Health Fair on Feb. 12, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., in the Primary Care Auditorium. The event will feature programs at Charleston VAMC focused on reducing heart disease risk such as the Women’s Health Program, smoking cessation, MOVE! weight loss, and cardiology. All Veterans, VA employees, volunteers and others are encouraged to attend and wear red that day in support of women’s heart health awareness.