The medical study tracked more than 230,000 patients who were identified with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), aged between 30 and 54 years, for nearly a decade from 2001.
The results indicated that while male rates of hospitalisation from heart attacks were higher women were often admitted for longer, had higher comorbidities and recorded higher mortality rates.
“It is concerning that hospitalisation rates for heart attack in the young have not shown any reduction, suggesting that lack of awareness and poorer control of cardiovascular risk factors – including diabetes, high blood pressure, and smoking may be responsible,” said the study’s lead author Aakriti Gupta, in a statement.
This is worrying when you consider that heart disease is the number one killer of Australian women – killing roughly 9,139 women each year or 25 women each day.
The Heart Foundation warns that women need to get savvy because it is not just an illness that middle-aged men need to worry about.
“The heart disease risk factors include being overweight, being physically inactive, smoking and having a family history of heart disease,” the Foundation warns on its website.
“The only way to know your true risk is to have a heart health check with your GP.”
