American Heart Association, goredforwomen.org

Heart disease is the number-one cause of death for women age 20 and over, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). Yet only 20 percent of women believe heart disease is their greatest health threat. To increase awareness of cardiovascular disease and stroke in women, the AHA established Friday, Feb. 3, 2012 as National Wear Red Day.

Research shows that more women die of cardiovascular disease than the next four causes of death combined, including all forms of cancer. For example, one in 30 American women dies from breast cancer each year, while about one in three dies from cardiovascular disease. And almost all women — 90 percent — have one or more risk factors for developing heart disease. These risk factors include:

• Smoking
• Overweight
• Physically inactive
• Age (55 or older for women)
• Family history of early heart disease
• High blood pressure
• High blood cholesterol
• Diabetes

While you might not be able to control your age and family history, you can take steps to control the other risk factors. In fact, 80 percent of cardiac events in women could be prevented if women made the right choices for their hearts involving diet, exercise and abstinence from smoking.

To learn more about heart disease in women and National Wear Red Day, visit the American Heart Association’s website, goredforwomen.org