Did you see red today? Americans nationwide wore red this Friday to show their support for women’s heart disease awareness. In the United States, National Wear Red Day (NWRD) occurs each year on the first Friday in February. The observance provides an opportunity for everyone to unite in the life-saving movement to draw attention to heart disease. Heart health consciousness is not just a wakeup call for Baby Boomers, nor is it exclusively a man’s disease as some people believe.
Heart disease is the number one health threat to women. The illness develops gradually and starts to rise when women are between the ages of 40 and 60, and it disproportionately affects women of color – African-American and Hispanic women – who have high rates of major risk factors.
I first became aware of NWRD several years ago, at a former workplace, when about mid-week a savvy co-worker/friend began encouraging the women in the office to wear red on the following Friday to draw attention to heart disease. At the time, some of us, myself included, had not even heard of NWRD, probably because the movement then was only a few years old. Always on a mission to support a worthwhile cause, my friend, Lori, provided the wake-up call to our staff, drawing our attention to this very important issue which some of us still endorse.
All this week on The View, Barbara Walters and her co-hosts have been promoting The Barbara Walters Special: A Matter of Life and Death which spotlights the need for heart health awareness. The program airs at 10PM tonight on ABC television.