Women Unaware of Heart Disease Risks

By Petrina Smith
Tuesday, 03 June, 2014

Despite 9000 women a year dying of heart disease in Australia, most women remain unaware of the most important risk factors – high blood pressure and cholesterol.

Heart Foundation statistics reveal only 1 in 20 women aged 45-65 considers high blood pressure and cholesterol to be important risk factors for heart disease while four in five women believe a lack of physical activity and poor diet put their hearts at greater risk.

“Many people are still surprised to learn that heart disease is the single biggest killer of Australian women and that it claims more than three times as many female lives as breast cancer,” said Ms Julie Anne Mitchell, women’s health spokesperson at the Heart Foundation.

“We’re very concerned that women are failing to prioritise their health, by not getting their blood pressure and cholesterol checked by a doctor.”

One in three adult women have high cholesterol, but 90 percent of those women don’t know it. One in four women over the age of 35 have high blood pressure but two thirds who do, don’t know it.

“There are often no signs or symptoms associated with high blood pressure and high cholesterol which is why women can overlook it. However it is vital that women know their blood pressure and cholesterol levels so that they are armed to take steps to reduce them if they are too high,” Ms Mitchell said.

This month (June) the Heart Foundation is running Go Red for Women, a campaign to address the knowledge gap around women and heart disease. It encourages all Australian to wear red in June to raise awareness.

"When we launched nationally in 2009, only 20 per cent of women aged 45-65 were aware that heart disease was their single biggest killer. But by the end of last year, this had risen to 36 per cent. A pleasing result but with only one in three women aware this is still not good enough.”