Unexplained heart attacks killing more people under 50 than cancer or car crashes
It kills more young Victorians than cancer, drugs or car accidents. This is the “silent tragedy” that took the lives of hundreds of people in just one year.
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More young Victorians are losing their lives to unexplained heart attacks than are dying on the state’s roads or from drugs and common cancers.
Startling new research has revealed sudden heart attacks are one of the biggest killers of young and middle-aged Victorians, many of whom are parents and at the height of their working lives.
The research shows 660 Victorians under the age of 50 died in the last year from unexplained heart attacks.
Another 90 miraculously survived their cardiac arrests.
The results of the Baker Institute study horrified researchers, who expected the annual death toll to be closer to 400.
“Sudden cardiac arrests are killing more young Victorians than breast, bowel or lung cancer,” the institute’s head of sports cardiology, Associate Professor Andre La Gerche, told the Sunday Herald Sun.
“What’s hard is that while we can clearly see how cancer or road trauma deaths can be prevented … when it comes to sudden cardiac death we remain largely in the dark.”
Most young people who suffered unexplained heart attacks were fit and active and had no inkling there was anything wrong, he said.
In many cases, even a visit to the doctor the day before their cardiac arrest would have failed to pick up a problem.
“When most people think about heart disease they tend to think of people who are overweight, haven’t looked after their blood pressure and ate the wrong things,” Assoc Prof La Gerche said. “That doesn’t apply to these cases.
“It’s usually a mixture of people with heart muscle, electrical and blood vessel problems, and the vast majority have absolutely no idea there’s an issue.”
The shock and grief for young families left behind after the sudden death of a loved one was “absolutely massive”.
It was sometimes so overwhelming, it was rarely talked about afterwards.
“These are very often silent tragedies,” he said.
Over the past 40 years cardiovascular deaths had declined dramatically for Australians over the age of 50 but not for people who were younger, where it was now second-only to suicide as a killer.
“Most people are very surprised when they hear that heart disease kills more young Australians than car accidents, drugs or cancer. Somehow it flies under the radar,” Assoc Prof La Gerche said
“We need to ensure this issue is front and centre in the public consciousness, and making the list of Australia’s top health priorities.”
The data — collected from April last year — revealed more young women succumbed to sudden heart attacks than previously thought.
The study was supported by the Dennerstein Foundation which was set up after a heart attack claimed the life of 47-year-old Jetstar captain and father of three Ross Dennerstein in 2016.
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