February (or REDFEB as we like to call it) is for heart research. We invite you to wear RED for someone close to your heart to help keep families together for longer. Whether it’s a family member, wife, husband, or that special friend who means the world to you, or in memory of someone you loved who sadly passed away due to heart disease.
Heart disease is Australia’s leading single cause of death. Each year, around 54,000 Australians suffer a heart attack. Heart disease kills one Australian every 28 minutes¹. This equates to one heart attack every 9 minutes.
Heart disease is an umbrella term for range of conditions that affect your heart. Diseases under the heart disease umbrella include blood vessel diseases, such as coronary artery disease; heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias); and heart defects you’re born with (congenital heart defects), among others.
The term ‘heart disease’ is often used interchangeably with the term ‘cardiovascular disease’. Cardiovascular disease generally refers to conditions that involve narrowed or blocked blood vessels that can lead to a heart attack, chest pain (angina) or stroke. Other heart conditions, such as those that affect your heart’s muscle, valves or rhythm, also are considered forms of heart disease.
Your heart is a hollow muscular organ, about the size of your clenched fist. It pumps blood around the body, delivering oxygen to every organ and cell. Keeping your heart healthy, whatever your age, is the most important thing you can do to help prevent and manage heart disease.
If you’re experiencing the symptoms of a heart attack, call Triple Zero (000) and ask for an ambulance. An ambulance is the safest way to go to hospital and the quickest way to seek treatment. Treatment can start when ambulance staff arrive, saving precious minutes and preventing damage to your heart muscle.
What is a heart attack, watch this video:
To learn more about heart disease, how to look after your heart and how to live with heart disease, click here: www.heartresearch.com.au/heart-disease/what-is-heart-disease/