Friday is National Wear Red Day. A day to raise awareness about heart disease which is the number one killer of women in the U.S.

Heather Klug from Aurora St. Luke's Hospital was a special live guest on the CBS 58 News at 4:30 p.m.

Klug discussed how your numeric age can be quite different from the actual age of your heart.

Heart age is the age of your heart and blood vessels as a result of your risk factors for heart attack and stroke.

1 in 2 men have a heart age 5 or more years older than their actual age.

2 in 5 women have a heart age 5 or more years older than their actual age

About 3 in 4 heart attacks and strokes are due to risk factors that increase heart age.

While there are risk factors you cannot change such as age and family age, there are many risk factors that you can change to reduce your heart age.

The most common reasons for a higher heart age that can be changed or managed are: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, overweight/obesity, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and diabetes.

You can make your heart younger at any age by making changes that reduce your risk.

The first step is to find your heart age.

That's why the the Karen Yontz Center has many resources including an open house Friday for anybody.

It runs from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

The center is located inside the St. Luke's Medical Center at 29th and Oklahoma.

For more information click here