Go Red For Women Mobilizes Women To Fight Heart Disease, Join Cause (NAPSA)—More women are learning how to take control of their heart health thanks to the American Heart Association. Its Go Red For Women began as a grassroots awareness campaign and has grown into a national movement educating women about their risks for heart disease and encouraging them to take immediate steps to reduce their risk. “This year, we discovered an alarming fact—that only 20 percent of women identify heart disease as their greatest personal health threat, even though 57 per- cent know that heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women,” said Alice Jacobs, M.D., president of the American Heart Association. “Go Red For Womenis beginning to change that.” Heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases kill one woman every minute—taking more lives than the next six leading causes of death combined, including all cancers. Fully one in four women has some form of cardiovascular disease. Without the knowledge of the risks of heart disease, women are powerless to make lifesaving changes. Go Red For Women, sponsored nationally by Macy’s and Pfizer with additional support from Bayer Aspirin and PacifiCare Foundation, provides women with what they need to take immediate action in the fight against heart disease through information on risk factor reduction such as blood cholesterol management, blood pressure control, smoking cessation, and weight mainte- Risk Factors for Heart Disease Uncontrollable Factors e Increasing age Heredity Race Controllable Factors Tobacco smoke High blood cholesterol High blood pressure Physical inactivity Obesity and overweight Diahetes @ nance. Through newsletters and health information, women are armed with tools such as questions to ask the doctor andtips on healthy eating and exercise. In addition, the Go Red For Women movement continues to inspire health care professionals by providing physicians and health care professionals. A physician tool kit provides detailed treatment information about managing heart disease in female patients. More than five million red dress pins—theicon of the Go Red For Women movement—have been distributed nationwide since the program began. Anyone can call 1-888-MY-HEARTto receive a free red dress pin—one for themselves and one to share with someonethey love. Become a part of the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women movementbycalling 1-888-MY-HEART or visiting americanheart.org.
