February is American Heart Month, and Friday the 5th is dedicated to “Go Red for Women” day, to raise awareness of the number one killer of women — heart disease. Since the movement began in 2004, cities across the country light up landmarks in red to celebrate, including Niagra Falls, the Empire State Building, and this year — courtesy of Highmark insurance — the spire on top of Fifth Avenue Place in NYC.

According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease kills approximately 450,000 women each year — one women every minute. Ninety percent have one or more risk factors for developing the disease; however it is still under-recognized and under-treated, according to a report issued by the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI). According to “Gender-based Issues in Interventional Cardiology” published this week, only 20 to 25% of patients enrolled in most CVD clinical trials are women. Because of the disparity, women are treated according to data based on men, leading to worse outcomes.

The report also highlights the educational deficit among women regarding heart disease. A survey called WINHeart found that 30% of women waited more than 30 days to seek medical treatment after experiencing symptoms of heart disease or heart attack. Women are less aware of the “atypical” symptoms specific to women — 70% of women do not know that men and women experience heart disease differently.

WomenHeart, the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease, cite another scary statistic from the American Heart Association’s 2010 update report on women and heart disease — a large number of women report that they feel there is “nothing they can do to keep themselves from getting CVD.” While it is true that there are risk factors that women cannot change, including family history and genetics, age (55 or older, particularly post-menopause), and race/ethnicity (African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans are all at greater risk), there are some significant ways that women can reduce their chance of developing heart disease:

• High blood pressure — Among African American women over the age of 20, almost 45% have high blood pressure. The rate is also higher among Hispanic and Native American women.
• High blood cholesterol — 48% of adult women have a total cholesterol of at least 200 mg/dL.
• Diabetes — Women with diabetes are 2.5 times more likely to have heart attacks. The prevalence of diabetes among Hispanic women is nearly three times that of white women.
• Smoking
• Being overweight — 58% of Caucasian women, 80% of African American women and 74% of Hispanic women are overweight or obese.
• Being physically inactive — 50-65% of all women are sedentary and get no leisure time physical activity.

It is very important to take risk factors seriously, and make steps to improve health to prevent heart disease and death from cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke. Also, bring awareness this February 5th, and wear red — and encourage your friends to do the same.