Geelong and Surf Coast residents are encouraged to look after their heart health and look out for any symptoms during this Heart Failure Awareness Week.
According to 2021 data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, heart failure affects close to half a million Australians, which is a focus for the awareness week from June 19 to 25.
Leopold’s Katrina Tenne said she was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy in 2021, a disease that makes it harder for the heart to pump blood through the rest of the body.
“I was not feeling good at all. I was really fatigued, feeling unwell, and I had no energy. I knew there was something wrong, but I kept putting it off,” she said.
Ms Tenne said she underestimated her risk of heart failure despite having a strong family connection, including her brother, who showed no symptoms before the diagnosis.
“You kind of think that it can’t happen to me, but we’re not invincible,” she said.
“I do find that I don’t have the energy like I used to. I still work and I try to keep busy, but I think it’s affected me in the sense that I do get tired, and I can’t always do things like I used to.”
Ms Tenne said staying positive was “crucial for managing heart failure” and encouraged people to visit their doctor regularly.
“We’ve only got one heart,” she said.
“It’s important that people are aware and if they’ve got any issues with health or any reasons or whether it runs in the family, then just go to the GP. You’ve got nothing to lose.”
Geelong Cardiology Research Unit director Professor John Amerena said heart failure was treatable if detected early and was a common cause of hospitalisation in patients over 65.
“Heart failure is a condition which is insidious in that the symptoms are fairly non-specific,” he said.
“People might feel tired and washed out with no energy, have some ankle swelling, be short of breath, or feel bloated.
“Getting advice earlier rather than later and that will reduce the need for people to go to hospital with more severe symptoms.”
