Mandurah ranks as State's heart disease capital

A Heart Foundation report, released last week, found 27.5 percent of people aged 18 and over in Mandurah had CVD, also known as heart disease – the highest percentage for WA and the 12th highest in Australia.

The geographical snapshot of CVD was the first of its kind in Australia and found those who lived outside of capital cities were 26 percent more likely to have CVD.

“We know people living in regional areas have a greater risk of heart disease because they are more likely to be physically inactive, daily smokers and overweight or obese, than those living in major cities,” Heart Foundation’s national chief executive Mary Barry said.

The study found in Mandurah 63.8 percent of residents had insufficient activity levels, 48.2 percent had high cholesterol, 35.6 percent people had hypertension, 29.2 percent were obese or overweight and 21.9 percent smoked.

Heart Foundation WA cardiovascular director Trevor Shilton said there was no solid evidence to why the rates were higher in regional areas.

“Possible contributors may include reduced access to programs and health promotion/education services, smoking cessation services, physical activity facilities and [access to] healthy food supply – notably fresh fruits and vegetables,” Mr Shilton said. 

WA had the biggest gap in the prevalence of CVD between city and regional areas which Mr Shilton said could be due to the distances between communities and clinical services, resulting in delays in treatment.

Ms Barry suggested the report would be useful in aiding government policies and health programs such as smoking cessation services, high quality physical activity infrastructure and the subsidisation of healthy foods in regional areas.

“We need greater focus on prevention and management of heart disease particularly in rural Australia,” she said.

“Prevention programs work, simple early detection and heart health checks but doctors can help identify your risk of heart attack and stroke.”