06/04/2023
Heart Disease is the number one killer of Australian women, yet it is preventable if the correct medications and healthy lifestyle changes are started early. Despite heart disease affecting more than 1 in 3 women over their lifetime, women and their doctors are often unaware of female-specific risk factors which can significantly increase the risk of heart disease. These risk factors include:
• High blood pressure during pregnancy or pre-eclampsia
• Pregnancy-related diabetes
• Premature menopause (under 44 years)
These factors all place women at risk of premature (under 65 years of age) heart disease, heart attacks, and stroke. We already have a good test that can detect premature heart disease. This is a CT scan of the heart that measures calcification (calcium build-up in the walls of arteries) in the heart arteries, which produces a CT calcium score.
The CAC Women's Trial: Westmead Hospital aims to determine whether using a CT calcium score can improve the control of risk factors for heart disease such as high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and promote a healthy lifestyle, such as regular exercise, eating a heart-healthy diet and not smoking.
The study is voluntary and has a duration of 6 months, during which you will be required to attend at least two in-person appointments at Westmead Hospital.
For more information, please follow the link to register your interest and a member of the study team will be in touch.
Please provide your First and last Name and contact details so our team can reach out to you to complete the consenting process and organise the study procedures.
