Heart disease in women: the statistics

On International Women's Day women here are the statistics and risk factors for heart disease, the No.1 killer of Australian women.

THE STATISTICS ON HEART DISEASE IN WOMEN:

* Is the No.1 killer of Australian women

* Claims 24 female lives every day (8702 deaths in 2015).

* Kills more than three times as many women as breast cancer

* Is responsible for one in nine premature deaths in women

* More than 48,000 women are treated in hospital for heart disease each year

* More than 1.3 million, or 31 per cent, have at least three risk factors

* Close to 100,000 women aged 18-44 have five risk factors

RISK FACTORS:

* High blood pressure - About one in 10, or 425,000, women aged 18-44 have high blood pressure

* High cholesterol - More than one in five, or approx 900,000, women have high cholesterol

* Obesity - more than 1 million women (46 per cent) are overweight and close to 1 million women aged 18-44 (22 per cent) are obese

* Tobacco smoking - More than 650,000 women aged 18-44 (15 per cent) smoke.

* Inactivity - close to 1.3 million women do not exercise at all. Only 56 per cent of women aged 18-44 are sufficiently active

(Source: Heart Foundation, Australian Bureau of Statistics, AIHW)


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Published 8 March 2017 12:08am
Source: AAP


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