Most older men would ignore chest pain while exercising, study finds

A new study has revealed that a disturbing number of people would ignore this potential heart attack symptom while exercising.

If you were playing a game of soccer with your friends and started experiencing chest pain, what would you do?

New research suggests that half of people aged over 35 would keep playing for five to 10 minutes to see if the pain eased, while only 47 per cent would leave the field immediately.

Disturbingly, one-in-five said they had experienced cardiac symptoms on the field in the prior 12 months, but only a quarter of those sought medical attention, according to the study published in Royal Australasian College of Practitioners’ Internal Medicine Journal.

Researchers say the “worrying statistics” in the paper, which surveyed 153 mostly male, masters-age football players aged 35 and older about their awareness of heart attack symptoms during exercise, highlight the need for greater education among this at-risk group.

“Although regular exercise improves health, strenuous exercise causes a transient increase in cardiac risk,” the paper’s senior author, Professor Geoffrey Tofler from Royal North Shore Hospital, said in a statement.

It comes after Health Minister Greg Hunt this week urged older Australians to get their hearts checked, following the tragic death of cricket icon Shane Warne from a suspected heart attack in Thailand earlier this month.

On Monday, it was revealed former AFL heavyweight Dean Wallis was recovering in hospital in Victoria following a major heart attack, days after Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching died suddenly with heart-related problems.

All three were aged 52.

“It is a tragic reminder of the risks that people face in their 50s,” Mr Hunt told a press conference on Friday morning. “And it is important to have our heart checked.”

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One-in-five had experienced cardiac symptoms in the past 12 months. Picture: Getty

The new paper found one-third of respondents would be embarrassed to go to hospital if they thought they were having a heart attack, but it turned out to be a false alarm.

A total of 45 per cent said that if they thought they were having a heart attack, they would rather someone drive them to hospital than have an ambulance come to their home.

Almost half were not confident in their ability to recognise symptoms of impending cardiac risk while participating in strenuous exercise.

“The risks are elevated when accounting for participants with pre-existing risk factors like hypercholesterolaemia, hypertension, smoker status, weight issues, and family history of heart disease,” Prof Tofler said.

The researchers said despite the popularity of masters football, the prevalence of cardiac risk factors and potential cardiac symptoms in players had not been adequately studied.

“In total, one-in-five study participants had one or more possible cardiac symptom during a game in the prior year, but only a quarter of them sought medical attention,” Prof Tofler said.

“In a hypothetic scenario of participants having chest pain while playing, around half of them said they would keep playing for five to ten minutes waiting for the symptoms to pass. Almost half of the participants were unsure whether they would recognise symptoms they might experience during games, such as chest pain, as an indicator of potentially serious cardiac risk.”

He added, “These are worrying statistics, especially when the risk increases with age. This risk is even greater in those who exercise infrequently or not at all.”

Experts have called for greater education about heart attack risks. Picture: Getty

Most of the group surveyed agreed that defibrillators and CPR training should be staples at football fields during all games.

“Performing CPR and using a defibrillator could be the line between life and death for someone experiencing sudden cardiac arrest, as the survival rate decreases by 7 to 10 per cent for every minute without the use of either method,” Prof Tofler said.

“Education strategies should focus on giving players clear instructions to assist rapid symptom recognition and management of cardiac events. These instructions should be made available to players electronically and onsite through posters for easy access.

“This will be vital to taking prompt action and increasing the rate of survival. While it is important to note that the benefits of exercise still far outweigh cardiac risk overall, these measures may further increase the benefit to risk.”

Professor Jason Kovacic, executive director of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, said this week that stress, extreme diets, smoking and even catching Covid-19 were all risk factors in causing heart attacks.

He rejected any suggestion Covid-19 vaccines may be to blame.

While Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines have been linked to myocarditis – inflammation of the heart muscle – Prof Kovacic said there were no reports of vaccination leading to heart attacks.

“Vaccination significantly reduces your chances of getting critically unwell from Covid, so we therefore believe it will be protective against Covid-related heart disease,” he told NCA NewsWire.

Cardiology researchers have previously suggested that the complex effects of pandemic lockdowns would likely lead to more deaths from heart disease – a phenomenon dubbed “post-pandemic stress disorder” by psychologists in the UK.

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