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The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute regularly releases statements to update the media and the community on the vital research being conducted.

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Heart Disease - Is it the forgotten killer?

Why are we now so blase about heart disease? Have we been lulled into thinking that this is one health concern that has been conquered? Have we been deluded that the solution lies only in healthy living and those who do have heart disease have only themselves to blame? Have we been led to believe that cancer is the only life threatening disease?

Heart disease does not respect age or gender. It afflicts young women in pregnancy, infants, adults and the aged of both sexes. Indeed, few realise that four times more women die from heart disease than breast cancer and that heart problems afflict newborn babies with almost one in 100 having a congenital heart disease.

The founder of the extraordinarily successful Crazy John's was a picture of health when a heart attack suddenly took him. Death from heart disease remains all too common claiming one Australian every 10 minutes.

Think about it - that's 6 people an hour, 144 a day, almost 4,320 a month. More people lose their lives every year from this condition than all those who died during the entire five years of World War II.

Over the past 40 years there has been a reduction but this has been the direct result of research and advances in medicine and surgery. Australia can hold its head high on the world stage as we have played an important role in this success but much still remains to be done.

Such an effort requires a reawakening of public interest in the fight against heart disease. It also requires support and funding and a society that embraces it's researchers and doctors as much as we embrace our sporting heroes. The rewards are great. We simply cannot lose our loved ones before their time is due.

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