Heart Association invites middle Tennessee to ‘go red’
National Wear Red Day is coming, and the American Heart Association is looking for middle Tennessee organizations wanting to paint the town red.
Friday, February 1, will mark the 10th annual National Wear Red Day and the 10th year of the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women movement, working to save women’s lives from their number one killer, heart disease.
Progress has been made in women’s heart health over 10 years:
- Thirty-four percent fewer women are dying of heart disease each year. Estimated totals over 10 years: more than 627,000 women’s lives saved, now at 330 women per day.
- Twenty-three percent more women are aware that heart disease is the No. 1 killer.
- Go Red For Women has driven an increase in publishing of gender-specific results in research.
- Differences in symptoms and responses to medications have been established.
- Women-specific guidelines for prevention and treatment have been created.
- Go Red For Women has contributed more than $44 million to women-specific research, treatment and education.
But much remains to be done.
- Heart disease affects one in three women nationally and here in Tennessee, 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.
- Heart disease strikes more women than men, and is more deadly than all forms of cancer combined.
On National Wear Red Day, buildings, streets, companies, homes and individuals will be dressed in red across the country to mark women’s fight against heart disease. Landmarks such as Niagara Falls and the Epcot Ball at Epcot Center will be lit in red.
Local ‘red’ landmarks confirmed to date include the State Capitol, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville Electric Service, Adventure Science Center and the Hard Rock Café. Also participating so far: Williamson County, the city of Franklin, TPAC, Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Tennessee General Assembly.
Go Red For Women is sponsored nationally by Macy’s and Merck, and locally by Saint Thomas Heart.
