3rd annual Red Dress Luncheon raises $1,500 for American Heart Association

WOODBRIDGE – Heart disease is the number one cause of death of women in the U.S.

That’s why Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center and Sentara Heart & Vascular Center hosted the third annual Red Dress Luncheon to benefit the American Heart Association.

On Thursday, February 28, a capacity crowd gathered at Matchbox Restaurant in Woodbridge to enjoy an afternoon of information, food, and fun. February is American Heart Month, and to commemorate the occasion the crowd dressed in red in support of the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Campaign.

“This is an amazing event for women in our community. It’s informative, it’s interesting and it could save a life,” says Kathie Johnson, President, Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center.

Mrs. Johnson served as the event’s emcee and presented the American Heart Association a check for $1,500. This year’s event was extra special because sisters and cardiologists- Dr. Rabia Arshad and Dr. Aysha Arshad served as co-keynote speakers.

“Women, because they have so many responsibilities, tend to neglect themselves,” explains Dr. Aysha Arshad, Medical Director of Electrophysiology at Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center, “By the time women patients show up for care, their disease and prognosis are much worse compared to men.”

Adds Cardiologist Dr. Rabia Arshad, “It’s important to take charge of your life and that means taking charge of your health. Know your risk factors. Some factors like heredity, our race, our sex – we have no control over. But, we do have control over our diet, activity level and deciding whether we smoke or drink. Changing some of our habits can make all the difference in the world.”

Some of those habits include:

• Get active
• Control cholesterol
• Eat better
• Manage blood pressure
• Maintain a healthy weight/BMI
• Reduce blood sugar
• Stop smoking

Among the messages for the women: make your health a priority, know your risk factors, and know heart attack symptoms. According to the American Heart Association, some of those symptoms for women include:

• Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, or pain in the center of your chest. It lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back.
• Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
• Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
• Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
• As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.

To learn just how healthy your heart is, log onto Sentara’s 28daysofheart.com to learn more about risk factors, healthy tips, and recipes and discover your heart’s age, the answer might surprise you.

As Red Dress Luncheon panel Cardiologist Dr. Kambeez Berenji reminded the group, “If you have signs and symptoms of a heart attack, don’t drive, call 911.”