Women's Heart Health Month: Red Dress Event

Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Last Thursday I had the pleasure of attending a benefit for women's heart health month sponsored by Meridian Health. The event was held at Buona Sera in Red Bank. It was a sea of red. Red dresses, red tops, red accessories, red cocktails. It was wonderful to see so many women in support of heart health.

The statistics are staggering:
  • An estimated 42 million women are currently living with heart disease, many un-diagnosed.
  • 8 million women have a history of heart attack and/or angina. 
  • Heart disease is the leading cause of death of American women, killing more than a third of them.
  • More than 200,000 women die each year from heart attacks- five times as many women as breast cancer.
For more statistics, click here.

The event featured survivor stories. These women are just like you and me. They led normal lives. Got up each morning. Went to work. Ignored their symptoms...until it became unbearable. Until they were in the middle of full-blown heart attacks. And while heart disease was in the spotlight at this event, there were plenty of people suffering from other rare diseases including Eisenmenger syndrome, Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC), Right Heart Hypoplasia, and many others.

Here's what I learned: take each and every symptom seriously. Shoulder pain is a symptom of a heart-attack. What you may think is heartburn could very well be the onset of a heart attack. Have your lipid profile checked annually. KNOW your risk and KNOW the symptoms.

In addition to heart disease education, it was also a chance to mingle with my fellow Meridian Momtourage bloggers, Nicole (2nd from left) and Cristie (far right) and our fearless leader, Margaret (2nd from right). I just don't see these women as often as I'd like, and these events are a great way for us to connect. And it was a chance to wear red. I never wear red!!

Photo credit: Meridian Health

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