Australian women are being urged to check their hearts this Mother’s Day, amid alarming warnings many are dying from heart disease without ever knowing they were at risk.
Almost every hour, an Australian woman dies from coronary heart disease and remains one of the leading causes of death, but experts say women are still being overlooked when it comes to diagnosis, treatment and awareness.
Advara HeartCare CEO Dr David O’Donnell told 7NEWS many still wrongly believe it is mainly a male condition.
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“We often use the statistics that more women die of heart disease than die of breast cancer. And if you’re a 50 year old woman, you’re three to four times more likely to die of heart disease than breast cancer,” he said.
“And yet everyone is out there getting their mammograms and their breast checks. We need every woman to focus just as much on getting their heart checked.”
One of the biggest dangers is that symptoms in women can look very different from the classic signs associated with a heart attack.
“Symptoms can vary quite dramatically. And in women, it’s commonly pain in different locations, in the jaw, in the abdomen, in the arm. And sometimes there’s no pain at all,” O’Donnell said.
“It’s just a profound nausea, sweating, feeling pale, feeling unwell, feeling dizzy. So the presentation can be quite different in women and men.”
The Heart Foundation’s Natalie Raffoul says complacency is a major problem, and that many women were unaware they even had risk factors.
“Unfortunately, the common feature of heart disease across women and men is complacency, not knowing that it’s an issue for you, not being aware of your risk factors,” she said.
“In the case of women, a lot of the time we see that they’re very busy taking care of their families and taking care of others and often overlook their own health.”
The warning comes as the Heart Foundation urges all Australians aged over 45 to book a Medicare subsidised heart health check with their GP during Heart Week.
The 20 minute check includes blood pressure and cholesterol checks, family history and an assessment of a person’s risk of developing heart disease within the next five years.
“It’s the opportunity for us to pick up your risk early and treat it before it develops into a heart attack,” Raffoul said.
“This kind of check is life saving and it could really benefit you and your family.”
For some patients, doctors may also recommend a coronary artery calcium score test.
It’s a specialised CT scan that looks for calcified plaque in the arteries supplying blood to the heart. Doctors say it can detect hidden heart disease before symptoms appear or before a patient suffers a heart attack.
“What it tells us is, do you actually have disease in your heart? We’re not trying to guess what your risk is, we’re trying to work out if there’s disease there or not,” O’Donnell said.
But the test is not currently covered by Medicare and can cost patients up to $800.
“There is an out of pocket cost associated with this, although most of the cardiology groups are trying very hard to get this rebated and I think the government’s listening.”
For Tasmanian cyclist Sharron Yaxley, that warning became reality. Despite a strong family history of heart disease, the active mother of four said she was repeatedly reassured she was healthy by her GP.
“I was fit and healthy and I wasn’t having any symptoms and I was passing all of the usual tests,” she said.
Yaxley eventually pushed for a calcium score test after a friend suffered a cardiac arrest. The results shocked her. Within days, she was rushed into open heart surgery.
“It’s barbaric, they cut you from here to here,” she said, pointing at her chest.
“I’ve lost arteries up my arm, it’s a difficult recovery. I was devastated.”
Despite the ordeal, Yaxley says she feels fortunate and is urging all women who may think something is wrong to get a proper check up.
“If you have a family history of cardiovascular disease, know your calcium score. Push for more than the regular tests, push for a scan to have your calcium score calculated.”
She has since recovered and just 12 months after surgery fulfilled her dream of cycling through Europe.
Yaxley’s message for other women is simple
“Now is the time to get your heart checked,” she said.
