Heart Research Institute says women's disease signs can be missed

Heart Research Australia chief executive Nicci Dent said many women dismissed early warning signs because they thought heart disease mainly affected older men.

Where men typically described chest pain, women were more likely to experience shortness of breath, weakness, fatigue and indigestion.

A free wallet card and two educational videos released as part of REDFEB, heart awareness month, outline the varied signs and symptoms as well as a heart attack action plan if needed.

Ms Dent said new research showed women who had a heart attack with no modifiable risk factors had a mortality rate three times that of men with at least one risk factor.

"Awareness is critical so that women can advocate for their own health," she said.

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"The new resources are free to all Australians, but any financial support towards our life saving research will be gratefully received."

Government data supplied by Heart Research Australia indicated higher rates of coronary heart disease among Indigenous Australians and people living in remote and very remote areas.

Indigenous Australians were twice as likely to have coronary heart disease, be hospitalised for it and die from it than non-Indigenous Australians.

"The rate of disease burden for CHD among Indigenous Australians was 3.1 times that of non-indigenous Australians," the data reported.

"The rate of dying from CHD among people living in Remote and very remote areas was 1.5 times that of people living in major cities."

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