National Wear Red Day To Wear Red Month For Lake Forest City Clerk

LAKE FOREST, CA — It takes very little to do your part to promote heart health awareness. Lake Forest City Clerk Stephanie Smith did just that when she decided to wear red not just on National Wear Red Day, but every day in February.

"Heart disease kills more women annually than all cancers combined," Smith said. "February is Heart Health Month, and I am wearing red each day in February to bring awareness to women's heart health.

Her Facebook page has Smith three for three, and with each post she shares a tidbit about how to remain heart aware and heart healthy.

"Heart disease kills one woman every 80 seconds," she said on Day two.

"Do you know your numbers? Blood Pressure, Cholesterol, BMI, Weight and Blood Sugar. These are all things that contribute to heart health or disease, One small change can make a difference," she said.

Though it is just Feb. 3, Smith plans to wear red and keep posting with #WearRed to bring awareness to women's heart health.

Wear Red Day is a nationwide effort to raise awareness about heart disease being the leading killer of women. This is the 15th annual National Wear Red Day.

Across Orange County and southern California, people dressed in red to demonstrate support for heightened awareness of heart disease risk factors and increased public education about gender differences in heart disease.

The American Heart Association and National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute have held the National Wear Red Day annually on the first Friday in February since 2003 in an attempt to raise awareness about heart disease being the leading killer of women and about women's heart health.

Why wear red every day in February?

"A friend does this Dresscember thing every December where she wears a dress and posts a picture in awareness of human trafficking and domestic violence," Smith said. "I liked the concept."

According to research from the American Heart Association women are often under-diagnosed in relation to heart disease.

"Women's symptoms are different," Smith said. "Doctors can misdiagnose them, and we can misdiagnose ourselves."

With regard to adding red to her wardrobe, Smith didn't mind the shopping, adding something new and different for the remaining 25 days of the month.

"Everyone wears pink for Breast Cancer awareness all October, but the facts are that heart disease is so much more deadly for women," she said.

Although heart disease has killed more U.S. women than men since 1984, most medical research has been focused exclusively on men and women are largely unaware that they are at risk, according to Sally Stewart of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

A survey by the American Heart Association found that only one in five American women believes that heart disease is the greatest threat to their health.

"Research has shown that men and women often experience different forms of heart disease. Men who experience heart attacks often feel a tingling in their left arm and chest pain while women's symptoms may include extreme fatigue, nausea and back pain, "Stewart said.

For more information, visit: www.Heart.org