Significant red

If there is one color that announces itself truly well, it is red.

You can spot this significant color from afar. It is vibrant and opens up warm feelings. Red symbolizes life, love and blood. Unfortunately, for people who are affected by color-blindness, red (along with green) is difficult to detect. This makes you wonder why traffic lights use red and green. However, this is not our focus today.

The American Heart Association (AHA) announced Feb. 1 as American National Wear Red Day. It’s a moveable holiday because it takes place every first Friday of February. The first Friday of February is known as American Heart Month.

We thank the AHA and the American National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute for establishing this holiday in 2002. Although it is American in source, Filipinos can benefit from this holiday.

Come to think of it, February also celebrates Hearts Day on Feb. 14.

Both dates honor the heart. Feb. 14 is about dating and loving. Feb. 1, on the other aorta (if I may pun), raises public awareness about health issues that beset American woman, particularly heart disease. We believe they are the same issues that hit Filipino women. It is thus, a worthy cause to follow.

There are many ways women can take part in this holiday. This writer is doing her part.

The one way you can mark the day is to wear red. Maybe you and your female friends can wear red shirts. In offices that have office uniforms or stiff dress code but allow colorful accessories, wear any red trinket or printed scarf with red touches.

Have your health numbers checked. This writer underwent the whole load of blood works last December to check fasting blood sugar, total cholesterol and other scary-sounding tests. Wear Red Day commands the same action. Ladies, have your blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides checked. See your cardiologist.

This writer’s cardiologist, Dr. Florema Garcia, said the numbers on the results were borderline, not alarming, but borderline. She decided to be vigilant and put this writer under MML or Medical Martial Law rather than wait for the blood sugar to climb, the cholesterol to boil over and the blood pressure to blow up the whole venous system.

This writer is now under preventive medication, carefully watching what she crams into her mouth. Why follow the doctor’s orders? Oh, my, we don’t want an FMI (Forever Medicine Intake). Thank God for kind and sympathetic doctors. This one has a marvelous sense of humor as well.

So how will you celebrate this day? We hope the Wear Red Day will see more Filipino women taking care of their hearts far better than they are doing now.