Do you know which disease kills four times as many women as breast cancer? If you don’t, you’re not alone – heart disease in women is often dangerously overlooked.
This is something young Aussie Olympian Cate Campbell hopes will soon change.
“Normally when I hear the words heart disease I think of a middle-aged man but that’s not the case at all,” Cate said.
“Heart disease is common in women. Everyone knows about breast cancer and it’s so important to get the message out there about heart disease as well.”
In 2008, 47 percent of people who died from heart disease in Australia were women, making it the leading cause of death for Australian women.
At just 18 years of age, Cate is passionate about informing women of all ages on the importance of knowing the dangers of heart disease in women and having regular check-ups for the disease.
Apart from being an Uncle Tobys spokeswoman, the company which runs the Go Red for Women event, Cate has her personal reasons for being so passionate about the cause.
“I had a small heart murmur when I was a baby,” Cate said.
“After I found that out I thought I would check my heart and keep an eye on it,” she said.
“When you think about it, what’s 20 minutes out of your day?”
Cate says heart disease in women is something that all women, no matter what their age, should be mindful of.
“The earlier the detection, the better. Now that I have the knowledge I know what I need to do and I know the warning signs,” she said.
“You can’t start too early.”
Medical research suggests that women tend to develop heart disease at a later age than men. It is not clear why this is the case, but it may be because oestrogen may provide some protection during the reproductive years.
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