Raising awareness on National Wear Red Day

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The first Friday in February means it's "National Wear Red Day."

On this day people wear the color red in order to raise and spread awareness to help eradicate heart disease and stroke in millions of women all over the nation.

Cardiovascular disease causes 1 in 3 deaths in women every year. This makes it the number one health related killer in women.

But the good news is 87% of all heart issues are believed to be preventable

ABC11 spoke with Anne Miller the executive director of the American Heart Association who says there are ways to prevent heart disease.

"Women do present heart attacks differently than men. They might have back pain or a chest pain. There is different symptoms. We encourage you all to visit heart.org to learn about what the signs and symptoms do look like, but I would encourage women to be aware that your signs and symptoms might look different than what you have seen on television," she said.

For more information on National Wear Red Day and February being American Heart Month click here.