Women in Essex County are coming together to fight heart disease.
The American Heart Association held a luncheon Thursday in West Orange, and News 12’s Della Crews was emcee as women wore red in support of Go Red For Women.
The movement raises awareness of heart disease and stroke.
"It's important for women because we need to make women aware that cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in women,” says Dr. Rosa Coppolecchia. “One in three women die of cardiovascular disease and we need to let them know the signs and symptoms of heart attack and make sure that when they get these signs and symptoms, that they don't ignore them, that they actually take care of themselves. Women usually take care of everybody else. We're caregivers. We're moms, we're professionals and so forth and then we don't necessarily take care of ourselves and ignore the symptoms which can actually be detrimental."
The American Heart Association hopes to improve cardiovascular health by 20 percent by 2020.