Heart disease remains the #1 killer of women over the age of 25, and on Friday in a nationwide effort, women joined together at educational events all over the country.

On Friday afternoon a sea of red filled Macy’s in Helena as women came out to celebrate “Go Red for Women,” a day recognized nationally as a day to educate women on the risks of heart disease.

Rhonda Hinrichs, Cardiology RN, says, “Women really want to know how to take care of themselves. You want to feel the best you can, so it’s kind of fun to see the women come out with their questions, and I kind of like it when I can help some people out.”

Arlene Ruhd attended the event. She says, “I thought it would be exciting to come and learn lots of different things about what’s going on.”

Experts from St. Peter’s Hospital were on-hand to deliver heart-health information, and a variety of booths were set up offering everything from healthy snacks to free wellness screenings.

Karrie Fairbrother, nurse educator, explains, “The wellness department is here making sure that women know about the risk factors for heart disease and ways that you can conquer those risk factors. There’s people here with nutrition, I’m doing blood pressures and talking about cholesterol and hypertension.”

Georgia Arnold went to event and says, “There’s a lot of information and it’s been a lot of fun.”

Millions of women in the United States suffer from heart disease, and experts say early detection is the key to survival.

Fairbrother explains, “Most of what we see in women and heart disease, they don’t get a big flag that says this is happening, so they’re not going to know that their blood pressure is up. They don’t know that they have a lipid problem.”

Experts say there are simple steps all women can take to live heart-healthy lives.

Hinrichs adds, “There’s a lot you can do to help prevent it, specifically diet and exercise. You want to have a low calorie, low cholesterol and fat diet.”