“Go Red For Women” Raises Money to Fight Breast Cancer Syracuse's Go Red For Women held this Thursday

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – On Oct. 24, the American Heart Association in Syracuse will hold Go Red For Women at Oncenter Convention Center. The purpose of this annual celebration is to raise public awareness about women’s heart diseases.

Kristy Smorol is the communication director of Go Red for Women. She said a lot of women didn’t realize that their No.1 health threat is cardiovascular disease. According to a report from the American Heart Association, one woman dies of heart disease every 80 seconds. In fact, 80% of heart disease can be preventable if we notice them earlier.

Around 600 people will attend the event. Smorol said they are expecting to raise $400,000. Last year, they raised $400,000. According to Smorol, the donation will go to education, research and so on. They will use this fund to promote and educate more women about how to prevent heart disease. In addition, they will also utilize this donation in research areas. Smorol pointed out that research studies specifically focus on women’s heart disease are relatively lesser than focus on men’s.

“It goes towards research,” Smorol said. “Unfortunately, women are not adequately represented in the research study. And we are working on changing that.”

Smorol said that this year’s Go Red For Women will add a new fashion section. The School of Design at Syracuse University will join this celebration by exhibiting various red dresses designed by students. Smorol said the supermodel Emme promotes this idea, which is also a part of the Fashion Without Limits program. Emme is also a yracuse University alumna and she will come back to town this Thursday to attend the event.

Smorol said women’s symptoms for cardiovascular disease are different from men’s. A lot of Hollywood movies will use convulsions to express heart attacks. However, Smorol said most women’s symptoms are subtle, which is also called “silent heart disease.” Plus, many women will dismiss these symptoms because they don’t pay a lot of attention to their bodies’ signals. Smorol said many women need to take care of their families and children. As a result, they forget to take care of their own bodies.

Tasha Benjamin survived a silent heart attack. She didn’t realize anything was wrong until the doctor referred her to the cardiology department. Benjamin had zero clues when the doctor asked her when did she begin to feel uncomfortable. Now, Benjamin needs to take medicine and eat a lot of vegetables.

But many women don’t survive a silent heart attack. According to the American Heart Association, women’s symptoms for heart disease include the following:

●  Back, neck, jaw pains

● Vomiting

●Tachypnea

●Sweating

●Recurrent fatigue

The event will be held Thursday, Oct. 24, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Go Red For Women is not only a one-day celebration. It is an activity running throughout the whole year.