Women starting to overcome stigma of heart disease

Even though heart disease is so prevalent, women who suffer from it often feel it carries a stigma -- one reason advocates have been unable to persuade any celebrities to talk publicly about their conditions.

"Women have to have this youthful appearance, and if they admit they have heart disease, it's always aligned with being old," says Dr. Debra R. Judelson, a cardiologist with the Cardiovascular Medical Group of Southern California in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Women sometimes feel responsible for their problem. "It's the shaming and the blaming," says Nancy Loving, executive director of the National Coalition for Women With Heart Disease. "'I smoked. I'm fat. I'm sedentary.' But if men have one, it's because 'I'm an alpha male.' It's almost a rite of passage."

Now, more women are coming out of the closet about having heart disease, following the path of advocates for breast cancer and AIDS patients. The Department of Health and Human Services recently launched the Red Dress Project, a campaign to raise awareness that heart disease is the leading killer of American women, and that much of it is preventable. Many of the women pictured in the group shot, wearing red dresses donated by designers, look healthy, confident and in shape.