Duluth Go Red event spotlights heart disease risks for women

More than 60 million women in the United States, about 44%, are living with some form of heart disease, yet only about 56% recognize it as the number one killer of women. That gap was the urgent message behind Duluth’s Go Red for Women event at Greysolon Plaza on April 23, as organizers used the gathering to push prevention, awareness, and earlier action on a disease that remains one of the leading threats to women’s health.

The American Heart Association says cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women. In 2023 alone, heart disease caused 304,970 female deaths nationwide, about 1 in every 5 female deaths. The association launched Go Red for Women in 2004 after cardiovascular disease was killing nearly 500,000 American women each year, and many women did not see it as a women’s issue.

In Duluth, the Northland effort was led by Dr. Mary Boylan and Karen Stromme as 2026 co-chairs. Briana Johnson, the association’s director, and survivor Roya Snyder were slated to speak, bringing medical, organizational, and lived-experience perspectives to a campaign that has grown from an awareness effort into a broader push for research, education, and better care.

The message carries extra weight in St. Louis County, where women often balance work, caregiving, and their own preventive care needs. St. Louis County Public Health says it relies on community health assessments and improvement plans to collect, review, and share local health data, a reminder that heart-disease prevention is not just a national concern but a local one tied to access, education, and planning.

The American Heart Association says women face risk factors that are often underrecognized, including pregnancy complications and premature menopause. That makes the Duluth event more than a fundraiser or social gathering. It is a reminder that risk can build quietly, even among women who do not think of heart disease as their own problem.

For readers in Duluth and across St. Louis County, the numbers are blunt: heart disease remains common, deadly, and too often underestimated. Events like Go Red for Women are built to narrow that gap, one conversation at a time, by pushing women to know their risk, ask questions, and treat heart health as a daily priority.