National Wear Red Day

It's time again to go red - and not talking about the upcoming presidential candidates or elections. National Wear Red Day, a campaign founded by the American Heart Association, is Friday, February 1, 2008.

The campaign was started to raise awareness of women's heart health and support the fight against the #1 killer of Americans.

Concerning women's health, it is widely perceived that breast cancer is the leading cause of death in American women each year. This isn't the case, according to a representative of the AHA.

While it is a brutal killer that claims thousands of lives each year, breast cancer is, excluding skin cancer, the most common form of cancer in women, the American Cancer Society says.

Cardiovascular disease is a disease of the heart and blood vessels commonly caused by having high blood pressure, eating fatty and high cholesterol foods, and obesity. Plaque build-up gradually coats the artery walls, a condition called atherosclerosis.

This is extremely serious, because plaque, which contains fat, cholesterol, and other substances, can block blood flow. When plaque ruptures, blood clots could form, which also seriously affects blood flow. If a clot forms in an artery that directly affects the heart or brain, heart attacks and strokes are caused.

Fortunately, preventing heart disease is not hard to do. On their website, the AHA provides three steps to improve your heart health, including stopping smoking, getting active, and eating well.

The steps seem simple enough, but a commitment to heart health is necessary to see improvement.

The AHA also suggests that prevention through healthy living begin as early as 20.

And awareness and prevention are the main goals of heart health.

Getting involved in National Wear Red Day is as easy as wearing your favorite pair of red pumps, a red tie or pair of socks, or the red dress pin that serves as the national symbol of women's heart health.

Hanging signs and posters up in public places and at work is a great way to get the attention of friends and co-workers. Free downloadable posters are available online at www.goredforwomen.org.

For more information about women's heart health and getting involved in the fight against heart disease, visit the American Heart Association's website at www.americanheart.org or The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at www.nhlbi.nih.gov.