EXCLUSIVE: Almost every Australian adult has at least one unhealthy habit or risk factor for a heart attack, according to an alarming survey that is a wake-up call about the need for a national heart health check.

While almost every one of us is in danger, only one in six people realise their lifestyle and health problems make them a candidate for heart disease.

The YouGov survey reveals 94 per cent of Australians have at least one risk factor for heart disease and 71 per cent have multiple risk factors. Disturbingly, the greater the number of risk factors a person has the less likely they are to consider themselves in danger of a heart attack.

The survey also found heart health is rarely raised when a person visits their GP; just one in five discuss it with their doctor.

Yet without a diagnosis of heart disease eight in ten Australians are unlikely to take any action to improve their health, the poll found.

Hopefully that will change following the success today of News Corp’s campaign with the Heart Foundation to get the federal government to fund heart health checks in a bid to prevent 76,500 heart attacks and save $1.5 billion over the next five years.

This check will help overcome the dangerous community ignorance about heart disease and act as a prompt for people to change their lifestyle to avoid a heart attack.

Over 18,500 people a year die from heart disease. Senior cardiologist Dr Nick Cox said this is because there is widespread ignorance about heart health risks — a situation made clear by the survey’s findings.

“I’m an interventional cardiologist and I got up at 4.30am this morning to treat a 60-year-old man who had a stent put in at 5am and it was the first time he was aware he had a heart problem,” he said.

TOO MANY TAKING THE RISK
Several key risk factors are laid bare by the survey of 1000 Australians.

Two thirds of respondents were overweight, half led an inactive lifestyle, one in three ate an unhealthy diet and one in five had a family history of heart disease.

Despite so many Australians having risk factors for heart disease just three per cent have had a full heart health assessment in the past year.

Only four in ten people who saw their doctor had their blood pressure checked, fewer than one in three had their cholesterol or weight checked, only one in five had a discussion about their diet or exercise and just one in eight were quizzed on family history of heart disease.

And one million Australians said they would rather risk a heart attack than take medication to manage the condition.

Eight in ten smokers and drinkers said being diagnosed with a serious heart condition would be the factor that got them to change their habits.

President of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Harry Nespolon said the reason most GPs haven’t done heart disease screening until now is because there has been no specific Medicare rebate to encourage doctors to provide the service.

“Medicare is about illness and disease, and, doing screening, unless it’s sanctioned by Medicare, will see you fall foul of the Medicare cops,” he told News Corp.

GP Alison Edwards says when people come to the doctor it’s because they have a respiratory infection or acute illness and there is usually not enough time to carry out a full preventive heart check.

“Having a specific Medicare item number would add impetus and focus on heart disease,” she said.

Dr Nespolon said funding for a heart health check should be a priority — then more funding was needed for a properly structured health coaching campaign to get patients to make the lifestyle changes to prevent heart attacks.

“You need to health coach people monthly, six weekly and check they’ve lost weight and stopped smoking and are exercising and that is a lot for people to take on. It has to be done in bite-sized pieces,” he said.

“Nurses would be ideally placed to do that but the health system doesn’t support it,” he said.

CHECK YOUR HEART HEALTH
Australians are being urged to do two important things to keep a public AND personal focus on heart health, as part of the News Corp and Heart Foundation’s #ShowSomeTicker campaign.

As a first step towards checking your own ticker’s health, use the online Heart Age Calculator at the Heart Foundation’s website.

The two-minute test estimates the “age” of your heart compared to your actual age; and can be a good reason to discuss heart health with your doctor.

And keep the issue in the public arena by using the #showsometicker hashtag on social media. Whether it’s sending a message to our leaders or sharing your own tips for healthy living, let’s keep the conversation — and Australians — alive.