Stop heart disease before it stops you or someone you love

Today is National Wear Red Day^® and also the 10th anniversary of the Go Red for Women^® movement. We’ve joined women everywhere to raise awareness about the No. 1 killer of all women – heart disease.

The American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women movement has been impacting the health of women for 10 years. More than 627,000 women have been saved from heart disease and there are 330 fewer women dying per day.

While much progress has been made, there’s still a long way to go. Here are some facts from the American Heart Association:

Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women – mothers, sisters, daughters, friends – and is more deadly than all forms of cancer combined.

• Heart disease causes one in three women’s deaths each year, killing approximately one woman every minute.
• An estimated 43 million women in the U.S. are affected by heart disease.
• Ninety percent of women have one or more risk factors for developing heart disease.
• Since 1984, more women than men have died each year from heart disease and the gap between men and women’s survival continues to widen.
• While one in 31 American women dies from breast cancer each year, heart disease causes one in three deaths each year.

Heart disease doesn’t affect all women in the same way:

• Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for African-American women, killing nearly 100,000 annually.
• Of African-American women ages 20 and older, 46.9 percent have cardiovascular disease; only one in five believes she is personally at risk, thinking heart disease couldn’t happen to “someone like me.”
• Research shows that nearly 50 percent of African-American women are aware of the signs and symptoms of a heart attack.
• Only 43 percent of African American women and 44 percent of Hispanic women know that heart disease is their greatest health risk, compared with 60 percent of white women.
• On average, Hispanic women are likely to develop heart disease 10 years earlier than non-Hispanic white women.
• Only 44 percent of Hispanic women know that heart disease is their greatest health risk, compared with 60 percent of white women.

Heart disease in women requires more attention, more research and swifter action.

• Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, yet only one in five American women believe that heart disease is her greatest health threat.
• Women comprise only 24 percent of participants in all heart-related studies.
• Women are less likely to call 9-1-1 for themselves when experiencing symptoms of a heart attack than they are for someone else.

Find out your risk for heart disease. We invite you to be a part of the Go Red campaign. Join the conversation and help us stop heart disease before it stops you or someone you know and love.

Save your heart, save the date! Join us for a very important Twitter chat about our hearts on February 5, 2013 at 9:00 p.m., ET.

Charmin Calamaris

Charmin is a wife, mom of two boys and creator of the Momiverse. The Momiverse is an online magazine for busy moms (is there any other kind?) dedicated to helping moms make time – and take time – for themselves. She traded in her career in land use planning and environmental policy to become Chief Executive Navigator of the Momiverse. You can connect with Charmin in her "online office" on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

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