Wearing red is not just for Valentine’s Day: It is a way to create awareness about the number one killers of women, heart disease. Men and women put on their finest red outfits to attend the Go Red for Women Luncheon at the Crest Hollow Country Club to support the American Heart Association. This event started with a cocktail hour where people were able to nosh, drink, place silent auction bids, and purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win an assortment of prizes.
Tables were full of informational materials from sponsors at the event. Cactus Salon offered discounted giftcards and donated part of the proceeds to the American Heart Association. The salon also sold red hair extensions for charity.
After the cocktail hour, everyone sat down in chairs covered with red leopard scarfs for an elegant luncheon. The luncheon also had workshops with credentialed healthcare professionals including “It’s not your Genes! Functional Medicine for the Heart” presented by Dr. Regina Druz, “Nutrition Session” presented by Sotiria Everett, and “Mindfulness and Other Tools to Manage Stress” presented by Deb McElligott, NP.
Leeana Karlson from Long Island’s K98.3 was emcee for the event. “I always knew how important the American Heart Association was and how important awareness was but it takes on a whole new shape and form when it does hit close to home,” she related after her dads recent heart attack. Heat attack symptoms for men and women differ so it is important to be familiar with both of them.
Many survivors got a chance to share their story at the luncheon. One inspirational survivor was only a teen who developed heart disease in the 5th grade.“ I love telling my story so people know, Gianna she’s the girl who had the open-heart surgery, she’s the dancer, she’s the strong girl, who went through all these things. I like how it defines me,” said Gianna Schupler. Gianna talked about how it was a confusing time because she did not know what going on with her hear. She was misdiagnosed and it took several different doctor opinions before they identified the cause.
Dr. Stacey Rosen, a Cardiologist from North Shore LIJ stated
“every woman should have a doctor, someone who they trust, I always joke women should not be afraid of their doctor or feel like they can’t ask questions, you would fire a hairdresser so if you have a doctor you don’t trust find someone else.” She encourages women to “listen to your body, you know what isn’t right; if your inner voice tells you something is not right you should listen to it.”
Since 80 percent of heart disease is preventable, Dr. Stacy Rosen gave a few simple, everyday tips to follow:
1) Exercise! A little bit of walking goes a long way.
2) Eat healthy foods, read labels, and read health articles online.
3) Get between 6-8 hours of sleep.
4) Stress Less! Yoga has been clinically proven to lower the risk of heart disease.
5) Know your family history and be familiar with your risk factors.
For more information go to www.goredforwomen.org
