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Pasco To 'Go Red For Women'

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By Klint  Lowry | The Suncoast News

Published: January 30, 2008

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

But on Jan. 22, the Pasco County Commission passed a resolution declaring Friday, Feb. 1, as "Wear Red for Women Day."

This officially added the county to a growing list of public and private organizations starting National Heart Month by shining a light – a red light – on women's heart health issues.

"Go Red for Women" is a campaign started by the American Heart Association in 2004 aimed at raising awareness of heart disease among women.

"I think by now everyone knows it's the No. 1 killer," said Dr. Rao Musunuru, who accepted the commission resolution on behalf of the American Heart Association. "The fact that it's the No. 1 killer among women, that isn't as well known."

Musunuru is director of cardiology at the Heart Institute at Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point, a member of the American Heart Association's Clinical Cardiology Council and the Advisory Council for National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Go Red for Women encourages people to wear red on Feb. 1. as a show of support for women's heart disease awareness. As part of the PR campaign buildings and civic landmarks around the Suncoast and the rest of the country will be lit red throughout February.

Many businesses have "wear red jeans" days, on which employees can pay to wear red jeans to work, with the money going to the American Heart Association. Several businesses run special Go Red for Women promotions.

Macy's, a leading corporate sponsor, offers 15 percent discounts on Feb. 1 to anyone who comes into the department store wearing red or who makes a $2 contribution to the American Heart Association.

Even the Weeki Wachee Little Mermaid is donning a red tail for many shows in February.

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

"We have to raise the awareness," he said, "to get people to think of heart disease as a people's disease."

The long-held perception that heart disease is mostly a men's health issue is a dangerous misconception, Musunuru said, and he has the statistics to back it up.

Even though studies have shown breast cancer strikes far more fear, 51 percent of heart disease-related deaths are women, Musunuru said. It is the No. 1 killer of women over the age of 64.

But what surprises people, he said, is that heart disease is the second-leading cause of death among women age 45 to 64, and the third-leading cause among women age 25 to 44.

Natural estrogen provides women some protection from heart disease at a younger age, but post-menopausal women fare much worse than men the same age. The reason for this, Musunuru said, is simple.

"Everything is more difficult when you're older," he added.

Women and men tend to wait until something scares them into action, Musunuru said. The later in life that scare comes, he said, the narrower the window of opportunity to do something about it.

The risk factors for heart disease are pretty much the same for men and women. Most of these factors – high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity , smoking, high cholesterol and inactivity – are reasonably controllable.

And, Musunuru, notes, 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, Musunuru said. The aim isn't to treat heart disease once it announces itself, but to prevent it from getting to that point.

That's what Go Red for Women is all about.

The program does seem to be having an effect. According to the women's heart health tracking study by the American Heart Association, the public's awareness of heart disease as the leading cause of death for women has nearly doubled, increasing from 30 percent in 1997 to 57 percent in 2006.

The next step is action. The American Heart Association invites women and men to register at www.GoRedForWomen.org. They will receive a free red dress pin – the symbol of women and heart disease – and educational materials.

Women can also take the Go Red Heart Checkup and receive a free assessment for their risk of developing heart disease within 10 years.

Men will be directed to another site where they can take a similar assessment regarding their risk.

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