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Women's Heart Disease Program Making Local Splash

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By KLINT LOWRY, The Suncoast News

Published: February 1, 2008

Updated: 01/31/2008 09:33 pm

NEW PORT RICHEY - It isn't often a political body is proud to announce being "in the red."

Today is "Wear Red for Women Day," as proclaimed by the Pasco County Commission, one of the many public and private institutions starting National Heart Month by helping raise awareness of the disease's risk to women.

"I think by now everyone knows it's the No. 1 killer," said Rao Musunuru, director of cardiology at the Heart Institute at Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point. "The fact that it's the No. 1 killer among women older than 64, that isn't as well known."

As part of the campaign the American Heart Association launched in 2004, monuments, buildings and other landmarks in the Suncoast and across America will be lit red throughout February.

Many businesses have designated days when employees may pay to wear jeans to work, with the money going to the heart association. Some retailers run Go Red for Women promotions.

For example, Macy's, a corporate sponsor of the campaign, is offering 15 percent discounts today to anyone who comes into the store wearing red or who makes a $2 contribution to the heart association.

Even the "City of Live Mermaids" on U.S. 19 north of the Pasco-Hernando County line is getting into the spirit. During each performance of "The Little Mermaid" at Weeki Wachee Springs this month, the title character will model a red tail.

Go Red for Women is a gimmick, Musunuru concedes, but it's for an important purpose.

"We have to raise the awareness to get people to think of heart disease as a people's disease," he said.
Breast cancer attracts more attention and apprehension, but heart disease is the second-leading cause of death among women ages 45 to 64 and the third-leading cause among women 25 to 44.
Natural estrogen provides younger women with some protection from heart disease, but post-menopausal women fare much worse than men the same age.

The reason for that is simple, Musunuru said: "Everything is more difficult when you're older."

Women and men tend to wait until something compels them to act, the cardiologist said. The later in life that health scare comes, the narrower the window of opportunity to do something about it.

The risk factors for heart disease are pretty much the same for both genders. Most of them - high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, smoking and inactivity - are reasonably controllable, Musunuru said. The risk factors tend to come in bunches, with one leading to another.

Most people are walking around with some level of cardiovascular disease and don't know it, he said. The aim isn't to treat heart disease once it announces itself but to prevent it from getting to that point.

Go Red for Women appears to be having a positive effect. A tracking study by the American Heart Association shows public awareness of heart disease as a killer of women has nearly doubled, from 30 percent in 1997 to 57 percent in 2006.

SEEING RED

The American Heart Association invites women and men to register at www.goredforwomen.org and receive a free red-dress pin and educational materials. Women of all ages and backgrounds can also take the Go Red Heart Checkup and receive a free assessment of their risk of developing heart disease within 10 years. The online tool helps women get the facts they need to partner with their doctors and make smart decisions about their health, the Web site says. Go Red's Internet destination also is a place to:

•Share stories about health choices, struggles and successes.

•Catch up on news of Go Red For Women and American Heart Association events.

•Find heart-healthy recipes.

•Sign up for the free 12-week Choose To Move program that offers simple exercises and tips for reaching goals through increased physical activity.

•Read blogs and watch videos.

•Submit inquiries on heart-health topics and read selected questions and answers from specialists each month.

•Review the ABCs of preventing heart disease, stroke and heart attack.

•Shop for Go Red educational materials, apparel and accessories.

•Learn about corporate sponsors' programs.

•Donate money for research.

•Print out questions to spur heart-healthy discussions during the next trip to the doctor.

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