Everyone can participate in the national movement by wearing their favorite red dress, shirt, tie, or Red Dress Pin on Friday, February 3, 2012. By joining together, the community will help "put a face on heart disease" and motivate women to take heart health seriously and engage in action to reduce their risk of heart disease. Caroline Calderone Baisley, the Director of Health warns: “Many women think heart disease is a man's disease. It isn't. Heart disease is the #1 killer of women and most women fail to make the connections between heart disease risk factors and their personal risk of developing the disease.” The Division of Family Health will offer blood pressure screenings from 9:00 AM until 2:00 PM in the Town Hall lobby, where red dress pins, information about risk factors for heart disease and healthy nutrition will also be distributed. In addition, public health nurses will be available upstairs (3^rd floor) from 2:30‑3:30 PM in the hypertension clinic.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. The most common heart disease in the United States is coronary heart disease, which often appears as a heart attack. One in every three deaths is from heart disease and stroke, equal to 2,200 deaths per day. These conditions are also leading causes of disability preventing people from working and enjoying family activities.

A woman suffers a heart attack every 90 seconds in the United States. Knowing the signs and symptoms is crucial to ensure the most positive outcomes after having a heart attack. The warning signs for women are often very different from those experienced by men. Many women who have a heart attack do not experience chest pain. Instead, pain can be in the right arm, back, neck, shoulder or throat. Other symptoms might include vomiting, nausea, pressure, fatigue, shortness of breath, feeling cold, sweating, or lightheadedness.

Adapting a healthy diet and lifestyle along with controlling blood pressure and cholesterol are valuable tools to fight heart disease. Women should talk to their doctors about heart disease risk factors and to take action to prevent or control these risk factors.

The American Heart Association sponsors national Wear Red Day. For more information about Women’s Heart Health and National Wear Red Day, call 203-622-6495 at the Greenwich Department of Health  or www.goredforwomen.org.

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