Go RED!!

On Friday, February 6th we encourage everyone to Go RED! The American Heart Association has declared this day as National Wear Red Day to remind us that heart disease is a serious and deadly disease. The first National Wear Red Day started in 2003 and has been going strong since. This is a chance for us to become more aware of what heart disease is and what we can do to stand up against it.

Heart disease is the number one killer of women, and is more deadly than all forms of cancer. Heart disease and stroke kill 1 in 3 women every year, averaging to be one death per minute-yikes!! Some may think that heart disease is a "man's" disease, when in fact, that is not true at all. Heart disease also doesn't discriminate with age, it can affect young women as well as older women. It doesn't matter if you're physically fit or don't have any symptoms, heart disease could still affect you.

So let's talk about some risk factors to make us more aware of how we can cut back our chances of getting heart disease. The biggest and probably the most obvious is smoking. It may surprise you to learn that smoking increases the risk of heart disease and stroke by 2 to 4 times. Also, women who smoke have a 25 percent higher risk of developing heart disease as compared to men who smoke.  In addition, continuing to smoke throughout your life shaves 13-14 years off of it; so, despite beliefs to the contrary, smoking doesn't just cause a risk for lung cancer.

Here's a look at how smoking damages your heart:

Nicotine makes your heart rate and blood pressure skyrocket.
Carbon monoxide and tobacco rob your heart, brain and arteries of oxygen.
It damages your blood vessels and makes your blood sticky - a recipe for blood clots.
It lowers your tolerance for physical activity and decreases HDL (good) cholesterol.
If you take oral contraceptives it increases your blood pressure and risk for stroke and heart attack.

The good news is that when you stop smoking, your risk for heart disease and stroke can be cut in half just one year later and continues to decline until it's as low as a nonsmoker's risk.

Another very important risk factor is cholesterol. High cholesterol has no symptoms, and many people have it without knowing. Find out what your cholesterol levels are so you can lower them if you need to. A few more risk factors to heart disease include obesity, hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, lack of physical activity, and an unhealthy diet. While there is no cure, high blood pressure is manageable and preventable by adopting a healthy lifestyle that includes a diet low in salt, saturated fats, cholesterol and alcohol. Physical activity and weight loss are also key factors in lowering your numbers.

So now that you are aware of some of the risk factors, it's time to take action and fight for your health, and the health of the women you love. Talk to your primary care provider to get more answers. Start taking action today to prevent heart disease. Heart disease is preventable by making healthy lifestyle changes and taking steps to manage risk factors.

The American Heart Association and we here at Ida Alive would like you to take on the Go RED challenge. Wear red, think red, paint the town red!! Talk to your employer about wearing red to work on February 6th as a reminder that we are going to stand up to heart disease.