Did You Hear? Wearing red helping to keep women’s hearts disease-free
By DIONNE GLEATON, T&D Staff Writer Wednesday, February 01, 2006A flashy red handbag. A red tie or socks. Red lipstick. A red blouse or dress.
What do all these things have in common?
They are among the items millions of women — and men — will be donning in the fight against the nation’s number one killer of women on Friday.
You can join them as part of The American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women Movement. The movement is one facet of National Red Wear Red Day, which will be celebrated on Friday. People are urged to wear their favorite red fashion or fashion accessory to help inspire women to take charge of their heart health.
The Edisto Savannah Public Health District, which includes Orangeburg, Bamberg and Calhoun counties, will be getting in on the act by encouraging women, and even a few good men, to don red Friday in support of the campaign.
“Heart disease is the number one killer of women in the United States and is also the first of the 10 leading causes of death in Orangeburg County,” said Yolanda Jamison-Sumpter, a health educator at the Orangeburg County Health Department.
With those statistics in mind, she said women at the local health department, along with those at satellite DHEC sites in areas including Bamberg, St. Matthews, Denmark and Holly Hill, will be wearing red on Friday to support the cause.
Jamison-Sumpter is no stranger to heart disease. Her maternal grandfather died of a massive attack heart attack, along with her paternal grandfather. Her maternal grandmother died of a silent heart attack.
For more information on the campaign, visit www.goredforwmen.org or call the American Heart Association at 1-888-MY-HEART (1-888-694-3278).
To subscribe to the print edition of The Times and Democrat, click here.
