CHICAGO, IL, FEBRUARY 6TH DR. KARL “FRITZ” DISQUE, practicing cardiac anesthesiologist and Executive Director of The Disque Foundation, spoke at Friend Family Health Center in the Chicago area to community members in an effort to spread awareness of American Heart Month. Dr. Disque presented the “Go Red For Women Initiative” part of the American Heart Association’s focus on women and heart disease in February. Go Red for Women is an AHA campaign aimed towards empowering women to take control of their heart health and spread awareness regarding women with heart disease. Speaking on behalf of the AHA and the Disque Foundation, Dr. Disque is helping draw the attention of and women all across the world that struggle or have struggled with heart disease.
43 million women are living with heart disease.
Heart disease has often been considered mainly a “man’s disease”. This assumption, however, is unfortunately false. Cardiovascular disease takes the lives of an estimated 500,000 American women each and every year. Because women are prone to believe their risk of heart disease is much lower than the reality, many neglect her symptoms and fail to obtain proper prevention and/or treatment before it is too late.
To fight this misconception, Dr. Disque and the AHA have been working to motivate, and instruct women all over the 
world through the Go Red for Women movement to inspire them to live healthier lives. Heart disease claims the lives of women all over the world, not just in America, which is why Dr. Disque urges women to fight in unity, not alone. The AHA’s Go Red for Women campaign is an international movement, which includes the Latina-based campaign called Go Red Por Tu Corazón, a bilingual program that helps Latinas with heart disease all across the globe in more than 65 different countries.
“Heart disease affects hundreds of thousands of women yearly. They could be your sister, mother, daughter, friend, or family member. With knowledge and motivation, women can work together to end the disease” – Dr. Karl “Fritz” Disque
Dr. Disque and the AHA realize that there is a long road ahead in the fight against heart disease in women around the world. He is proud, however, to encourage women who have not yet joined the movement, and continue to inspire any of the one million women who already have. Through these efforts, we can beat heart disease!