SEATTLE — While heart disease is often associated with men more than women, major heart health concerns are an issue for everyone. If you see people wearing red today, it’s likely to support the “Go Red for Women” campaign, which shines a light on women’s heart health and runs through February.
In this week’s Healthier Together, KIRO 7′s Ranji Sinha takes a look at why women are often overlooked when it comes to heart disease.
“Anyone can have any kind of heart disease at any point,” says Dr. Nicole Saint Clair, Executive Medical Director of Regence BlueShield. She admits the image of a heart disease patient is usually a man — not a woman. It’s a frustration for her and many other medical professionals.
“There are some protective factors from women’s hormones that make it such that many women will experience significant heart disease a little bit later than the average male, but that’s just a general statement,” said Dr. Saint Clair.
Dr. Saint Clair knows most heart disease research comes from studies on men, adding that cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women, causing more deaths than all forms of cancer combined.
‘Go Red’ is the American Heart Association’s (AHA) signature initiative to hammer that fact home to the public.
Both the AHA and Dr. Saint Clair have cited research that women, especially minority women, are disproportionately impacted by heart disease and stroke. The AHA says 45% of adult women 20 and older are living with some form of cardiovascular disease.
CBS News spoke to a survivor named Robin Eaton, who stressed that women need to trust their intuition when it comes to their hearts. Paramedics told her she was not having a heart issue, even though the pain she was feeling kept getting worse, “I started having intense pain in my chest. My arms were tingly and my back hurt… it was very, very scary.”
Both the AHA and Dr. Saint Clair say that women need to think about the real risks of heart disease and adopt heart-healthy habits, like getting enough sleep, managing stress, and checking their blood pressure.
The Puget Sound Go Red for Women event is taking place Thursday, March 6, 2025, at the King Street Ballroom and Perch. The event will include education and experiences that can help improve women’s health and well-being.
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