The Red Dress Project focuses on healing women’s hearts

Amy Parker / Reporter

There’s a disease that kills nearly 1,400 women a day, but most people don’t think twice about it or even realize it’s happening. The name of that disease happens to be heart disease. Heart disease kills more young women than all types of cancer combined, a fact that surprises many people, especially women.

It’s time to save your life. According to their Web site, “The National Heart Lung, and Blood Institute has established the Red Dress Project to symbolize the fact that heart disease can strike any woman at any age.” Not many women know the facts of heart disease and it’s time for these facts to be out in the open.

The Red Dress Project is focused on informing women about the dangers and risks involved. Heart disease claims the lives of 500,000 women per year, and kills more women than men per year, especially young women. Many of us think we’re safe because we’re both female and young.

Guess again.

For years women have focused on other health problems, such as breast cancer, because doctors never seem to mention this killer affecting so many. Only 80 percent of women named heart disease as the greatest threat to their health, according to a survey conducted by the American Heart Association.

If more women knew how deadly heart disease can be, heart problems could be detected earlier and more frequently in women, increasing their chances for survival. Heart disease could be developing in you or your friend’s body at this exact moment without you even realizing it. In a study in which researchers examined 100 hearts donated from women who had died, 50 percent were already at the initial stage of heart disease.

“We think about our hearts when it comes to love, but women need to realize that we need to take care of our hearts all the time,” said actor Jennifer Love Hewitt, a supporter of the Red Dress Project.

Heart disease can be prevented by eating a balanced diet, maintaining a proper weight, exercising, controlling stress and not smoking. All it takes are these basic steps to be on your way to becoming heart healthy.

The red dress is the official symbol of women and heart disease created by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. To support the Red Dress Project, February has been named Heart Health Month.

On Feb. 6 women across the nation wore red dresses to show their support for the cause. Glamour Magazine supported the day with various advertisements and celebrity promotions, including one from First Lady Laura Bush.

Glamour reminds us, “It weighs less than a pound, but fuels every part of your body and lets you love and be loved. Take care of your heart – too many young women don’t.”