February 6, 2009 Is National Wear Red Day, Awareness of Women and Heart Disease

American Heart Association celebrates February as National Heart Month


More than 41 million American women are living with one or more types of cardiovascular disease, yet only one in five view heart disease as their greatest health threat. One in three women has cardiovascular disease, and every minute one woman dies as a result of this health threat. That’s why Go Red For Women, powered by the American Heart Association’s research, is educating and connecting millions of women of all ages in an effort to beat our No. 1 killer.

Texas Institute for Surgery At THD and the American Heart Association celebrates February as National Heart Month and on Friday, Feb. 6th millions of men, women and children across America will unite in support of the Go Red For Women movement and take a stand against heart disease on “Wear Red Day”. The Go Red For Women movement is a nationwide movement that celebrates the energy, passion and power women have to band together and wipe out heart disease, by wearing red!


In addition to Wear Red Day, Saturday, February 7th the American Heart Association will host Vestido Rojo at the Resource Connection Center in Fort Worth which will be providing invaluable information on cardiovascular disease to women of the Hispanic Community. To register for Vestido Rojo, please call 1-888-433-7799. On Sunday, February 8, the American Heart Association will be celebrating Power Sunday, an outreach effort targeting faith-based organizations with the intent to provide education and resources on heart health to its members. To register for Go Red Sunday, visit www.americanheart.org/scagoredsunday

About Go Red For Women

Since 2004, Go Red For Women has captured the energy, passion, and intelligence of women to work collectively to wipe our heart disease—the No. 1 killer of women. Today we want millions of women across American to take heart disease personally. Using the simple platform “Love Your Heart,” Go Red For Women engages these women—and the men who love them—to embrace the cause. Healthcare providers, celebrities, and politicians also elevate the cause and spread the word about women and heart disease. For more information about Go Red For Women, please call 1-888-MY-HEART (1-888-694-3278) or visit www.GoRedForWomen.org. The movement is nationally sponsored by Macy’s and Merck & Co., Inc.

Heart disease and stroke are the greatest health threats to women of all ethnic backgrounds, but only 21 percent realize it. Consider these facts:

• Coronary heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women over age 20. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) kills about 460,000 women a year.

• While 1 in 30 American women die of breast cancer, almost 1 in 3 will die from cardiovascular disease.

• Cardiovascular disease causes approximately 1 death per minute among females in the U.S.

• 43 million American women are living with cardiovascular disease.

• Sixty-four percent of women who died suddenly of coronary heart disease had no previous symptoms.

• African-American and Mexican-American women have higher heart disease and stroke risk factors than white women of comparable socioeconomic status.

• Heart disease rates in post-menopausal women are two to three times higher than in pre-menopausal women of the same age. USTIN (January 13, 2009) – "The Economic Impact of Physician-Owned Hospitals in Eight States" concluded that Texas physician hospitals, which employee over 22,000 Texans, have a net economic effect of nearly $2.3 billion on the Texas economy. In addition, the study estimated that Texas physician hospitals will pay approximately $86 million in taxes (property, payroll and income taxes) in 2009.

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