Thousands of Americans participated in Go Red for Women on Feb. 5 to show their support for women’s heart health, and that included healthcare professionals. The American Heart Association’s (AHA) campaign seeks to raise awareness that 1 in 3 women die of heart disease and stroke each year. The good news is that many of these deaths are preventable.
“Some risk factors are modifiable or controllable, and knowledge is power. Having the knowledge and acting on it allows patients to reduce their risk of disease,” said Michael Mishkin, MD, a cardiologist at Bayfront Cardiology. “Patients can literally, through the choices they make, reduce the likelihood of having a heart attack or stroke.”
Mishkin advises women to see their provider regularly to help monitor and control blood pressure, and to practice prevention by getting regular physical activity and eating healthy foods. The AHA is hoping that more women will do this after seeing their providers, neighbors, friends and family wearing and talking about Go Red for Women day on social media. The Storify presentation below shows how healthcare providers and others celebrated Go Red for Women day.
For those who missed the Feb. 5 awareness day, there is still time to get informed or spread the word about heart disease. February is National Heart Month, and resources will continue to be posted at https://www.goredforwomen.org/.
Coming soon, on first Wednesday in April, is National Walking Day. This event encourages everyone to lace up their sneakers for a 30-minute walk as a way to decrease heart health risk.
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“One of the most important things to reduce stress, improve weight management and decrease your risk for coronary disease is to increase your cardiorespiratory fitness, and the best way to do this is to actually walk-brisk walking to shortness of breath but still able to talk.” explained Eleanor Levin, MD, a cardiologist at Kaiser Permanente. “If you improve your cardiorespiratory fitness, recent studies have shown that it actually reduces your risk not only of coronary disease and stress but also of arrhythmia.”
Besides widespread support for the Go Red campaign on social media, the AHA raises money through various programs and products associated with the event. The AHA had raised $114,000 as of Feb. 8 and continues to work toward its goal of $500,000 in funds raised for community outreach programs, educational resources and research to find a cure.
Chelsea Lacey-Mabe is a staff writer. Contact: [email protected]
