Friday is National Wear Red Day, the signature day of the American Heart Association to raise awareness around heart disease and women’s health.
Christina Clohecy, CFO at Web.com Group and Chair of the 2021 Go Red for Women campaign for the First Coast American Heart Association, said the goal is to bring great attention to leading cause of death for Americans -- both men and women.
“Each year the nation comes together to ignite a wave of red from coast to coast from landmarks to news anchors and neighborhoods to online communities -- that’s the entire goal for the month of February, which the American Heart Association has dubbed Heart Month every year since 1964,” Clohecy said. “In particular, they put a special emphasis on women’s health since heart disease is often believed to be strictly a man’s disease. While it is the leading cause of death among men, it’s also the No. 1 killer in women, and yet so many women remain unaware.”
She said 1 in 3 dies from cardiovascular disease, calling it a “sobering reality.”
“The way the American Heart Association really shines a light on this important issue each year is by asking everyone to wear red on this first Friday of February, whether it’s a T-shirt, a hat, a dress, tie or pin -- anyone can show their support and help raise critical awareness by rocking red today,” she said.
She said another misconception is that only the elderly should be concerned about heart disease.
“Even with healthy lifestyles, plaque can accumulate and lead to clogged arteries later in life,” she explained. “It’s really scary if you consider this one stat: nearly half of women over age of 20 are living with some form of cardiovascular disease.”
For more from Clohecy’s interview, press play at the top of this article.