WHERE you live may be just as vital as how you live when it comes to your chances of succumbing to heart diseases.
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New research has revealed people living in regional, rural and remotes areas are 90 per cent more likely to die from heart diseases caused by high blood pressure compared with their city-based cousins.
Where you live can be just as important as how you live.
- Heart Foundation spokeswoman Penny Milson
Local Heart Foundation spokeswoman, Penny Milson, said the regional inequality in cardiovascular related deaths was no surprise.
“We know there’s multiple factors behind this and that where you live can be just as important as how you live,” Ms Milson said.
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She said factors like employment, public transport, proximity to green grocers and access to health care had big bearings on the stats.
Ms Milson said the health system could “do much better” in addressing the disparity and called for more heart health checks and screening, starting in GP offices.
Ms Milson, who also sits on the Tamworth Cardiovascular Working Group, says local government could play a bigger role the region’s health.
“We were delighted to see the addition of bubblers in the main and, personally, it would be good to see that expanded into more disadvantaged areas and the smaller towns," she said.
Tamworth Regional Council has banned smoking in the CBDs of its towns since November 2015, which polling has found to be a popular move, but Ms Milson said the veto wasn’t well-known to newcomers.
She said signs at the edge of the CBD or town would help clarify for people for people passing through.
The research came from the Australia Catholic University who called for an advisory group to be formed to manage heart disease in Indigenous and regional communities.