THIS week, more than 70 pharmacies across the nation will be holding free, mobile heart testing stations as part of Atrial Fibrillation Awareness Week 18-24 September.
Australians are being urged to check whether they have an irregular heartbeat, known as atrial fibrillation, which dramatically increases the risk of stroke, and hearts4heart believes they could detect thousands of cases of AF across the country during Awareness Week, especially with pharmacy support.
While AF can be detected by a simple pulse test to check heart rate, as many as 30% of the 460,000 Australians with the condition remain undiagnosed and at heightened risk of stroke.
Left untreated, an irregular heartbeat can cause blood to pool in a chamber of the heart and form a clot that can travel to the brain, causing a devastating stroke.
A recent White Paper released by hearts4heart identifies atrial fibrillation (AF) as the cause for 6,000 strokes every year, with one-in-four of these occurring in people who are undiagnosed and therefore unable to take preventative measures.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 18 Sep 17
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