Protecting Hearts

Health Department and Faith Community Plan a “Go Red” Weekend

By Dr. Adewale Troutman
Director, Louisville Metro Health Department

For many years, heart disease and stroke were viewed as diseases that only affected men. But the reality is that more women than men die each year of cardiovascular disease. Here are some other startling facts:

• Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women today, including cancer
• African American women are at greater risk for heart disease and stroke than any other group
• Less than half of all women reported that their doctors have discussed cardiovascular disease with them
• One-third of American women are obese
• About 40 percent of American women get no leisure time physical activity

We want to change that.

The Louisville Metro Health Department's Office of Faith and Health is encouraging all faith organizations to promote a “Go Red” weekend to raise awareness about the importance of good heart health.

February is National Heart Month and it includes National Wear Red Day (Feb. 2) and National Women's Heart Day (Feb. 16). Locally, we want to encourage a “Go Red” weekend, Feb. 23-25, where members of all faiths and the community come together to wear red and promote the importance of good hearth health.

The American Heart Association has a ready-made tool kit for faith or community organizations to help them promote the Go Red movement. For more information, go to www.GoRedForWomen.org .

Our Office of Faith and Health, working with the American Heart Association, has several resources to help faith and other community organizations promote good heart health year round. There is a Search Your Heart program that provides a core curriculum on heart disease and stroke for African Americans. The information helps educate and raise awareness of the heart-health inequities among African Americans and provides them with some insight about how to live a heart-healthier lifestyle. The program includes a turnkey kit that anyone can use to help motivate participants to make changes toward a more heart healthy lifestyle.

The Louisville Metro Health Department also offers free classes in nutrition, weight loss, exercise, diabetes prevention and management and more. We also have a speaker's bureau of knowledgeable chronic disease prevention specialists and health educators who can speak on a vide variety of health topics. We also regularly provide resources for health fairs.

The Mayor's Healthy Hometown Movement offers an easy to navigate website, www.louisvilleky.gov/healthyhometown , full of ideas about how to get healthy by increasing physical activity and eating better.

Please call us at 574-8045 if you'd like more information on the “Go Red” weekend or if we can assist you in taking steps to have better health and wellness.

I'll be wearing red this month, will you?