Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 2414 BOCNEWS.com MARCH 2017 Red Dress Sunday & Heart Disease Awareness Wearing red this month is not just a trend but a matter of life and death.Shorter A.M.E. Church had “Red Dress Sunday” on Feb. 19 along with other churches across the country in bringing awareness about heart disease to those African- American communities. February is recognized nationally as American Heart Month. And more African-American women are dying from heart disease than any other racial group. “We had women in churches wear red to highlight heart disease,” said Dr. Terri Richardson M.D. of Internal Medicine at Kaiser Permanente and who spoke on Sunday at Shorter A.M.E. “Heart disease used to be consid- ered a man’s disease. But a cam- paign was started to show the effects of heart disease among women. It actually kills more women than men, especially women at that post-meno- pausal age.” Dr. Richardson is also the vice chair of the Colorado Black Health Collaborative. The website to get more information on health issues is www.coloradoblackhealth.org. Diabetes, smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, obesity are often factors prevalent among African-American families. Researchers found a specific gene in African-Americans makes them more sensitive to the effects of salt, therefore, being a group more prone to heart diseases. Check out the statistics: - Of those African-American woman over age 20, 49 percent have heart disease - Only 1 in 5 African- American women believe they are at risk - At least 50,000 or more African- American women die from cardiovas- cular disease every year. February is recognized nationally as American Heart Month.