The Hearth Truth invites everyone to wear red today, in order to support the awareness campaign for heart disease in women. Both men and women can participate by wearing a red shirt, tie, dress, or a red dress pin. It looks like one-third of women underestimate their own personal risk of getting heart disease, and one quarter of them still die from heart disease, according to an online press release from campaign officials.

What is The Heart Truth? Well, it’s a national awareness campaign for women about heart disease and it’s sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services. The Heart Truth introduced the Red Dress as the national symbol for women and heart disease awareness in 2002, in order to deliver an urgent wake-up call to American women.

Furthermore, to promote the campaign, a partnership with Clothes Off Our Back was signed, in which a selection of red designer dresses worn by celebrities in The Heart Truth’s Red Dress Collection fashion shows will be auctioned. This will end on February 27. The money will be given to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health and will be used to further efforts related to women’s heart health awareness and research.

As for the heart disease risk factors, these include high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, being overweight, being physically inactive or having a family history of early heart disease. According to a recent research, cardiovascular disease is the No.1 killer of all American women. It remains to be seen if the campaign will have its desired effect, reducing the number of deaths caused by heart disease.