The headlines have been dominated by heart attack coverage and the tragic demise of sportspeople and politicians alike of late, but there are 120 Australians who are struck by heart attack every day, who we don’t hear about. 

It has been a long-known fact that cardiovascular disease and heart attack is and still remains the biggest killer of both men and women across the country, and that 25% of these affect people younger than 65 years of age.  

Cardiologist Dr Warrick Bishop says, “We have to take a pro-active stance around heart attack if we are serious about curbing the sheer number of cases and with it the many lives lost, often too early.” 

"Especially, when we know that 80% of these heart attacks are preventable." 

Dr Bishop, an advocate for preventative cardiology in Australia, has been calling for early testing to identify risk factors for heart attack and the use of 3D Heart Imaging Scans - which are still not broadly accessed for people that fit the intermediate-risk group, especially in regional areas.  

He has been speaking out in response to the recent losses, namely Shane Warne, Rod Marsh, and Senator Kimberley Kitching. 

One in four people face heart disease, killing 118 people a day or one every 12 minutes, making up more than a quarter of all deaths in the country, no matter if they live in the city or regional or remote locations.  

According to Dr Bishop, we spend over $5 billion annually in providing care and rehabilitation to those who survive a heart attack, yet invest little in prevention.  

"Compared to cancer, our government invests around 120 million dollars per annum on early detection of cancer, such as breast screening, bowel cancer tests, and the like, however in view of the billions spent on providing post-heart-attack care, wouldn’t funding preventative measures of heart attacks be a valuable investment?" Dr Bishop says. 

“We have to look at the key factors around heart attack and actively reduce these. Combined with early testing, being at between 45-50 years for men, 55-60 years for women, and 30 years for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, we can actually bring these shocking statistics around heart attack down,” said Dr Bishop. 

Bishop stresses that for people living in regional locations that have longer travel times to hospitals and specialist care units, early detection of potential risk indicators and intervention is paramount to prevent the occurrence of a heart attack.  

"How many more high-profile people do we need to come across our headlines before we will shift from a "tow-truck" approach to a proactive "maintenance" one… as we do on our cars." 

"We don’t get the same level of insight into people’s individual heart health from stress tests or risk indicators such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels. While the key risk factors that affect most Australians are diet, lack of exercise, being overweight, age, smoking/drinking alcohol, stress and family history - unless we literally look ‘under the bonnet’ we are only guessing the condition of the ‘engine’," says Dr Bishop. 

The prominent number of younger Australians suffering heart attacks speak for themselves in that there are multiple factors that place them at risk but often, it is fit, active, and younger people who fall victim to heart disease, not the stereotypical overweight, unfit person. 

Dr Bishop says rural Australia is 10-15 years behind the US, UK, and Europe when it comes to using preventative technologies.  

“People have to decide to be proactive for themselves and get their heart health checked for their own sake and that of their families,” says Dr Bishop.