myHIN Blog

February 04, 2013

The “Other Red”

Friday marked the first day of Black History and Heart Disease Month! It is not completely ironic that these two months take place simultaneously, considering the impact heart disease has had on the Black community. Heart Disease is the number one killer of women, causing 1 in 3 deaths each year [1]. Of African-American women ages 20 and older, 49 percent have heart disease. This is very alarming to me considering both sides of my family have a history of women with high blood pressure.

On Friday, the Kappa Omicron chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated hosted ‘Pink Goes Red’, a Zumba event used to raise awareness of heart disease and give attendees an opportunity to take action towards combating this condition. Other than the fact that I love Zumba, I really wanted to attend because I am a strong advocate for the ‘Go Red For Women’ campaign. As a member of the Mu Omicron chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, I initiated the chapter’s philanthropic efforts to go towards the ‘Go Red For Women’ campaign since our sorority was the first to join the American Heart Association through this effort. Since 2011, we have donated over $300 to the campaign through hosting various events such as ‘Breakfast In Red’, a pancake breakfast which raised money and awareness for Heart Disease. This year, we will have a table set up on the brick yard at NC State during our annual Crimson and Cream Week where we will spread information about heart disease and raise money to donate to the campaign.

A lot of people know how much the color red means to me, especially since my first car, CD player and cell phone was red. My high school and university’s primary color is red, and my sorority’s color is also red. However, they don’t know that red is also important to me because of heart disease. My great-grandmother passed away because she had not taken her blood pressure medicine for several days leading up to her death. Knowing this and learning about the other diseases that are prevalent in my family has really inspired me to lead a healthier lifestyle by watching what I eat and exercise.

Although My Health Impact Network has an initial focus on HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness, we cannot forget about ‘the other red’ - heart disease. People with HIV have more than four time the risk of sudden heart attack as their uninfected peers, according to Dr. Priscilla Y. Hsue [2].

Sources:

[1] Go Red For Women
[2] Health Attacks in HIV Patients -- NY Times