7 hours Ago By Damon Cronshaw
More than three quarters of the 1500 coronary heart disease deaths in the Hunter health network each year could be prevented. Login or signup to continue reading Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the Hunter network, which includes New England and Central Coast. The disease also holds this ranking nationwide, but the onus is on individuals to voluntarily present to their GP for a heart check.
The Heart Foundation said a national screening program could prevent more than 67,000 heart attacks, strokes and heart-related deaths over five years. The foundation has asked the federal government to fund such a program, starting with a $3.3 million grant for its design.
The government does fund Heart Health Checks through Medicare, with GPs bulk-billing for the service. The foundation suggests all people aged 45 to 79 get a health check. "About 80 per cent of heart attacks, strokes and coronary heart disease events are preventable," said Natalie Raffoul, of the Heart Foundation.
The foundation believes a targeted screening program would boost the number of heart checks. "A screening program would find people that need a heart check and invite them to get one, like with bowel cancer," Ms Raffoul said. She said coronary heart disease "develops over decades".
"It starts in adolescence. The blockages and plaque in your arteries continue to build up over years." The leading risk factors were blood pressure and cholesterol.
Diet, exercise, smoking, alcohol and stress were risks that could be improved. "We can't do anything about age, gender and ethnicity and family history of heart disease," she said. University of Newcastle Professor Aaron Sverdlov said "less than 40 per cent of people in Australia with high blood pressure and high cholesterol are treated to target".
"It's critical that people look after their cardiovascular health and risk factors early, without waiting for a problem," said Professor Sverdlov, a cardiologist. "We see so many people who have a heart attack or stroke or another acute presentation." They say things like "I wish I stopped smoking or listened to advice about looking after their blood pressure and cholesterol".
"People get quite lax because high blood pressure and cholesterol cause no symptoms until something bad happens. "People can have high blood pressure for 10 years and feel absolutely fine. Then they have a heart attack or a stroke.
" Once people have a heart attack, "it's brought under control but it's a little too late". "Some of the damage has been done." Professor Sverdlov said "everyone over 50 should get a heart check every five years".
"Have a healthy diet, lose weight and do at least half an hour of exercise four or five times a week at a minimum. "All those things will improve heart health." The Ozempic-style weight loss drugs have shown promise in improving cardiovascular health.
"They can help people, but they're not subsidised for weight loss in Australia yet," Professor Sverdlov said. "The best results are through true lifestyle change because if you don't alter diet and exercise, you'll be confined to those drugs forever. "When you stop the drugs, if you haven't changed dietary habits, the weight can creep back on.
" He said the drugs hadn't been around long enough to know if they had long-term problems. "We have five to six years of data. We don't know what happens if people take them for 15 or 20 years.
" Health and medicine, science, research, nutrition. Email: [email protected].
au Health and medicine, science, research, nutrition. Email: [email protected].
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