Lets Take Part In National Wear Red Day

This Friday, February 6th, 2009, is National Wear Red Day. As part of the Heart Truth program, people are encouraged to wear red in an effort to bring attention to the risks of female heart attacks. For more information, please look here. The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute has news about this event, as well as others.

I’d like to get involved. If you are taking part in National Wear Red Day, please have someone take a photo of you that you post at either your blog or your Flickr account, then leave a link in the comment section here, on this post. I think it would be fun to make this a sort of community event. What do you think?  Anyone interested? 

Now it’s time for some of the hard stuff – the facts. Did you know that one in four women in the US die of heart disease?

What Are the Risk Factors for Heart Disease?

Risk factors are conditions or habits that make a person more likely to develop a disease. They can also increase the chances that an existing disease will get worse. Important risk factors for heart disease that you can do something about are:

High blood pressure
High blood cholesterol
Diabetes
Smoking
Being overweight
Being physically inactive
Having a family history of early heart disease
Age (55 or older for women)

Some of these risk factors cannot be changed, but many of them can. If you are a smoker, then please quit. If you are inactive, please begin an exercise routine, with the advice of your doctor, of course. Take steps to reach and then maintain a healthy weight. Be a good example for your children. 

For more information about The Heart Truth, please visit the website here.