New research has found that women are not aware of their risk of developing Coronary Heart Disease. Heart Research questioned 2,000 adults about heart disease and found that two fifths (37%) of women have never had their cholesterol checked.
Three quarters of women (73%) don’t realise that coronary heart disease claims more lives than breast cancer each year and a further three in five (60%) women don’t realise that the risk of CHD increases after menopause. The HER Disease campaign aims to help to stop women needlessly dying of heart disease.
The main risk factors of CHD are a poor diet, smoking, alcohol, lack of physical activity, high blood pressure and cholesterol levels and obesity. A woman’s susceptibility to CHD can also be increased by menopause, due to the declining levels of oestrogen.
