Go Red for Women

Welcome back. Did you know that heart disease is the number one killer, number one killer of women? That's why the Go Red for Women movement has been helping fight heart disease and educate women in this country to raise awareness for the last 10 years. I'm joined this morning by Natalie Barrow, chair of the Greater Miami-Fort Lauderdale Go Red campaign, and Dr. Tiffany Di Pietro Ruiz with more on what you need to know. Every minute a life is claimed by heart disease.

That's correct.

Those, those statistics blow my mind.

And not just men, women. Every minute. Right. So the scary statistic is it's 1 in 3 women will die of heart disease, whereas 1 in 30 die of breast cancer. So out of the 3 of us, 1 of us will statistically die of heart disease.

What's the message, Doctor? I mean—

Really, it's taking control of your own health. It's realizing that 1 in 3 women will die. It's knowing your numbers, knowing your cholesterol, knowing your glucose, knowing your weight, and taking control of those and understanding what those numbers mean. And asking your doctor, I need my numbers, I want to understand, and ask the question why repeatedly until you understand.

So the no news is good news, that rule goes out the window. Even if you don't get a phone call from the doctor, pick up the phone and demand to find out. And you know, Natalie, I just, I just became a mom. We were just talking about how hectic our lives are. We're moms, we're sisters, we're daughters, we're wives, we're nonstop. We're taking care of everyone else but ourselves, right?

Absolutely. I was thinking about that the other day. I said, we take care of our pets, we make sure our cars get oil change. How about our oil? How about our, our own diet, our own You know, we need to look at our arteries. We need to ask the right questions when we go for a physical. We need to tell our friends, our family, our parents, our moms, our children, and tell them even at a young age, we're seeing more and more younger women have, because of the bad diets, because of all the fast foods, you know, what they need to do to take care of their cholesterol. Make sure their numbers are where they need to be, which is one of the things that is so, so important.

Absolutely, and the resources that the American Heart Association is putting out there. I mean, CPR, make sure that your family is informed, right? Absolutely.

We need to, as leaders in our household, mothers, women, we need to share it with our families and tell them, learn CPR. We don't know when we're gonna have an emergency at home and/or in our workplace. I've heard multiple stories of women just having a heart attack in the workplace and not finding the resources. There are many resources that are with the American Heart now trying to go out to the community to teach CPR. Let's reach out, let's get those resources and learn from it.

Just like we had a conversation here with Dr. Sismo Ruiz, you should pick up the phone and have a conversation with your doctor as well to make sure that you know your cholesterol levels and your heart levels. And, you know, if you're healthy and putting yourself first, then you are a better person to take care of yourself and your family. If you would like to learn more about the Go Red campaign right now, this is the information you need to know. Visit gmflgoflorida.org. Ladies, thank you so much for being here.