Move Those Feet!

Go Red and Get Moving!

A Reminder! Today is February 1, National Wear Red Day. This is part of the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women, a movement begun in 2004 to raise awareness of the issue of heart disease in women. By wearing red today, we show our support of Go Red’s goal of a 25% reduction in coronary heart disease and stroke risk by the year 2010. By teaching women how to talk to their doctors about heart disease, the movement is changing the perception that this is a “man’s disease.” Heart disease is the number one killer of women in America. But it is often preventable, and taking a walk is a great place to start.

A heart attack is caused by too little oxygen getting to the heart. Poor diets, high cholesterol, smoking, inactivity, and high blood pressure all clog arteries, causing the vessels carrying blood to and from the heart to narrow and harden. This makes the heart work harder to deliver the blood our working muscles need. Eventually, the heart weakens from all of this hard work and just quits working. This, my friends, is heart failure.

The good news is that there is hope. A regular walking routine can help lower your chances of meeting this gloomy end. Exercise is one of the most useful tools in improving your overall health. Walking gives your heart the necessary challenge to make and keep it strong. It keeps your blood vessels pliable, allowing more blood to flow through them. It can also increase your levels of good cholesterol (HDL) while lowering the levels of bad cholesterol (LDL). Lower cholesterol means cleaner arteries. As the arteries clear, blood pressure drops, putting less pressure on the heart. This allows more oxygen-rich blood to be delivered throughout the body. Plus, as you move more, you will start to feel better. When you feel better, hopefully you’ll want to eat better, eventually lowering weight and cholesterol levels even more. Before you know it, you’re a lean, mean, heart-healthy machine.

For more information on the Go Red for Women movement and how you can take part, visit the website at http://goredforwomen.org.

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