'˜Urgent' need for heart disease funding in the South East

The latest data shows around 470,000 women in the area are living with heart and circulatory disease, while current statistics from the UKs leading heart research charity has also found that nearly 10,000 women in the South East are dying from conditions such as heart attack and stroke each year.

Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, medical director at the British Heart Foundation (BHF), said: “These figures reveal the high and growing burden of heart and circulatory disease in the South East.

“They specifically highlight that women are not immune to heart diseases and there is a need for more awareness so they receive better and prompt care.

“We urgently need to fund more research to better understand the impact of heart disease and help develop new and better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat it.”

According to the foundation, while heart attack survival rates have greatly improved, there is still no way of preventing people from developing coronary heart disease as they get older.

In a statement the BHF said that these figures dispel the myth that heart disease is a ‘man’s disease’ and show that much more research is needed to better prevent, diagnose and treat heart disease and stroke.

BHF-funded research has also found that women have a 50 per cent higher chance than men of receiving the wrong initial diagnosis following a heart attack, which it states can lead to poorer outcomes.

The BHF currently invests around nearly £100 million in the South East in cardiovascular research and has 151 active research grants across the nation.

Find out more about women and heart disease and the BHF’s life saving research at bhf.org.uk/women