Girl Scouts Troop 42505 hosted a Go Red event, to educate girls, and their leaders about the importance of keeping our hearts healthy, and to raise money for their upcoming trip to Washington, D.C. The event was Feb. 4 at Lake Wilderness Elementary School.

Girl Scouts provide the community with many services ranging from stuffing Easter eggs for the community egg hunt to providing all those yummy cookies. However, the girls in Troop 42505 decided to take it to the next level and provide health education. The girls noted 64 percent of women who died suddenly of coronary heart disease had no previous symptoms. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, and it is referred to as the silent killer because the symptoms can be different for women than men. Here are some of the facts that are so important the girls wanted to share with the rest of the community.

• Clinicians and patients often attribute chest pains in women to noncardiac causes, leading to misinterpretation of their condition.
• The most common warning sign of a heart attack in both men and women is chest discomfort – most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that last more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
• Women, however, are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, back or jaw pain. This may not be accompanied by typical chest pain. Women are also more likely to report unexplained fatigue.
• Women may avoid or delay seeking medical care, perhaps out of denial or not being aware of both typical and atypical heart attack symptoms.
• Since women tend to have heart attacks later in life than men do, they often have other diseases (such as arthritis or osteoporosis) that can mask heart attack symptoms. Increased age and the more advanced stage of coronary heart disease in women can affect treatment options available to physicians. Increased age also can help explain women’s greater mortality after heart attacks.
• Some diagnostic tests and procedures may not be as accurate in women, so physicians may avoid using them. That means the disease process resulting in a heart attack or stroke may not be detected in women until later, with more serious consequences.

The girls arranged for a Zumba dance class, followed by four centers that the participants rotated to during the event:

• Taste Test – trying healthy foods that might be new and different,
• Heart Education – learning how the heart works,
• Move and Groove – making healthy choices and
• Heart Awareness Cards – make a card for someone you love.

The girls also provided a Leaders’ Corner, to allow the leaders of the participating troops to take a break, enjoy some grown-up time and share great ideas. They collected nail polish to donate to girls in hospitals, encouraged all the participants to wear as much red as possible and had the participants sign hearts to send to some of the American soldiers serving overseas.

The turnout was amazing, and the girls leading the event were proud to have been part of such an important day.