“I don’t have to worry about heart disease… that’s a man thing, and an older woman thing.” If you agree with that statement, please read on.

Friday, February 5 is National Wear Red Day, part of the Go Red For Women campaign that seeks to wipe out heart disease — the number one killer of women, and encourages women to take heart disease personally.

The color red serves to remind women of the importance of heart health.

From the American Heart Association:

What are the risk factors for heart disease and stroke that you can’t control?

• Increasing age: Risk keeps rising with age.

• Gender: Men have a greater risk of heart attack than women, and they have heart attacks earlier in life. Each year about 55,000 more women than men have strokes, and about 60 percent of total stroke deaths occur in women.

• Family history: You are more likely to develop heart disease or stroke if close relatives have had them. Race is also a factor. Black women have greater risk of heart disease and stroke than white women. African-American men and women are more likely to die of stroke than whites.

• Previous heart attack or stroke or TIA: Women who have had a heart attack are at higher risk of having a second heart attack; 22 percent of women ages 40 to 69 who survive a first heart attack will have another heart attack or fatal coronary heart disease within five years, and 22 percent ages 40 to 69 who survive a first stroke will have another within five years. A transient ischemic attack (TIA or “mini-stroke”) also is a risk factor and predictor of stroke.

What risk factors can be modified, treated or controlled by focusing on lifestyle habits and taking medicine, if needed?

• Tobacco smoke: Smoking is the single most preventable cause of death in the United States and a major cause of cardiovascular heart disease among women. Women who smoke have an increased risk for ischemic stroke and subarachnoid hemorrhage. Constant exposure to others’ tobacco smoke (secondhand smoke) at work or at home also increases the risk, even for nonsmokers. Women smokers who use birth control pills have a higher risk of heart attack and stroke than nonsmokers who use them.

• High cholesterol: High blood cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease and also increases the risk of stroke.

• High blood pressure: High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart attack and the most important risk factor for stroke. Women have an increased risk of developing high blood pressure if they are obese, have a family history of high blood pressure, are pregnant, take certain types of birth control pills or have reached menopause. African-American women have higher average blood pressure levels compared to Caucasian women.

• Physical inactivity: Studies show that lack of physical activity is a risk factor for heart disease and indirectly increases the risk of stroke.

• Obesity and overweight: If you have too much fat — especially if a lot of it is located in your waist area — you’re at higher risk for health problems, including high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, high triglycerides, diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Data from Medco Health Solutions found that among adult women, those ages 20 to 44 are showing the greatest increases in the use of medications to treat high cholesterol, hypertension and blood clots – conditions that can all lead to heart attack and stroke.

Red is a bold color, used in this instance to serve as a wake up call to women, particularly young women.

Women: Heed the call and make major lifestyle changes now to help prevent heart attacks and strokes later. You’ve only got one heart — treat it with the utmost of care.

Men: Be bold and spread the word to the women in your life.

For more information:

Go Red For Women: 1-888-MY-HEART (1-888-694-3278) The Go Red for Women movement is nationally sponsored by Macy’s and Merck & Co., Inc.

American Heart Association