NBC NEWS -- Today is national "Wear Red Day" to promote heart disease awareness among women.
In conjunction, the American Heart Association has released a new film, a comedy about a woman having a heart attack.
The short film is a humorous exaggeration of a typical working mother, focused not on her own needs, but on everybody else's.
A working mother herself, Elizabeth Banks directed the film and stars as the mom who ignores signs of a heart attack in favor of getting her family out the door on time.
She partnered with the American Heart Association for this unusual way of spreading heart disease awareness.
"It was definitely tricky to convince them that using humor would be a great way to talk about heart disease," she says.
That's because it's not fun to talk about the facts.
Heart disease is the number one killer of women and reducing your risk for a heart attack means taking the time no one thinks they have: To eat right, quit smoking and exercise.
"Even though you may be thin and look the picture of health, you are at risk for heart disease," warns cardiologist Dr. Jennifer Mieres.
The film also drops a heavy hint to men to pay attention to the health of the women in their lives.
In this case, the best way to deliver heart disease messages to a woman's brain may be through her funny bone.
Visit www.GoRedForWomen.org to see the whole video, and learn more about how you can reduce your risk for heart disease.
