By Peggy O'Farrell
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Lauren Price 10, and her sister Kristen Price 16, with their mother Lynette Price (center). (Brandi Stafford/The Cincinnati Enquirer)

Get your red dress ready: The American Heart Association kicks off its "Go Red for Women" campaign Friday to educate women on the dangers of heart disease.

Heart disease and stroke kill about half-a-million American women a year - nearly twice the number who die from all forms of cancer combined.

"It's just critical to get the word out to women about heart disease," says Dr. Lynne Wagoner, director of cardiac services at University Hospital.

The American Heart Association encourages women to wear red Friday to show their support for those affected by cardiovascular disease.

WOMEN AND HEART DISEASE

Since 1984, more women than men have died of heart disease: In 2000, cardiovascular disease killed 505,661 women, compared to 440,175 men. More facts about heart disease in women: One in five women has some form of cardiovascular disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for American women, and kills almost twice as many women as all forms of cancer combined. In 2000, heart disease was the most-often cited diagnosis for women discharged from short-stay hospitals at 3,179,000 cases. About 6.6 million American women are living with a history of heart attack or chest pain caused by reduced blood supply to the heart muscle (angina pectoris) or both. Postmenopausal women are two to three times more likely to have heart disease than women the same age who have not gone through menopause. Women who've had a recognized heart attack are more likely than men - 38 percent compared to 25 percent - to die within a year after the attack. Source: The American Heart Association

FOR MORE

• Go red for women • Know your risks • Five women beat the odds

Lazarus-Macy's stores will support the campaign with the collectible "Go Red Dress Bear" from Gund. The plush bears sell for $10, and half of the proceeds from each will be donated to the American Heart Association during February.

The American Heart Association will be stationed on the second floor outside the Fountain Place store to hand out gifts to the first 100 women they see wearing red.

Breast cancer organizations have come on strong with their pink ribbon campaign to raise awareness about that disease.Wagoner and the American Heart Association want the "Go Red" campaign to do the same for cardiovascular disease.

Many people tend to think heart disease only affects older women, but that's not the case, Wagoner says. "We're seeing more and more younger women being affected by heart disease."

Patricia Baas, now 46, was 39 when she had a heart attack in 1995. Her back hurt and she had trouble breathing, but it never occurred to her that it was her heart - even though both her parents died of heart disease.

When she got out of the hospital, "I got on my soap box and called all my friends" to advise them to get their heart health checked.

"Many women never suspect heart disease," says Baas, who lives in Melbourne. "I certainly didn't. I figured I was the youngest in the family, so it wasn't going to hit me first."

Women and their doctors need more education on the risk factors, warning signs and symptoms of heart attack and other forms of heart disease, Wagoner says.One in five women has some form of heart disease, whether a congenital defect or hardening of the arteries caused by an unlucky combination of diet, inactivity and genetics.

"There are so many examples of women who sit in the emergency room for hours until they're finally taken back to see a doctor and someone realizes they're having a heart attack," she says.

Women's heart attack symptoms tend to be less obvious than men's. Instead of the classic pain in the left arm and shoulder, women might feel nausea or indigestion, an intense sense of anxiety and pressure on the chest or difficulty breathing. Women also tend to complain of back or jaw pain.

"In general, the symptoms are much more subtle in women. I don't know if it has to do with women's perception of pain. Pain to us is childbirth, and men have never experienced that," Wagoner says. "Men come in holding their chests and sweating and writhing in pain. Women are much more nonchalant."

Wagoner wants to see women make heart health checks a regular part of their self-care routine.

"So many of us trot off diligently to get a mammogram and Pap smear every year. It would be so great if women would go in to their doctors to discuss cholesterol levels and CRP and blood pressure and all that, and pay as much attention to those as they do to the mammogram," she says.