Heart disease in women, it’s time to talk about it.

Heart Research Australia kicked off Women’s Health Week 2022 with Cardiologist Dr Monique Watts and author of ‘Queen Menopause’ Alison Brahe Daddo as we chatted menopause and women’s heart health.

We spoke about heart conditions commonly experienced by women yet not well known or spoken of; early warning signs and what to look out for; what to do should they arise; and the impact of menopause on a woman’s heart health.

We are so truly grateful to both Dr Monique Watts and Alison Daddo for volunteering their precious time to help us raise awareness of the importance of understanding your body and menopause, and how to embrace menopause and use it as an opportunity to be the healthiest version of yourself you can be.

You can watch the recording below and we hope you find it as interesting as we did!

Dr Monique Watts is a heart failure cardiologist and specialist in women’s heart disease who works at the Epworth and the Alfred Hospitals in Victoria.

She has recently established a cardiac clinic in North Central Victoria to improve access to specialist care for rural citizens and has also led the development of the Women’s Heart Clinic at the Alfred Hospital which offers specialised care for patients suffering cardiac conditions more commonly seen in women. This is one of Australia’s first Women’s only Heart Clinics.

Dr Watts is actively involved in clinical research, with multiple current projects in progress in the area of women’s heart disease. She also teaches for the University of Melbourne Clinical School.

Alison Daddo became one of Australia’s most recognised – and loved – faces after bursting onto the modelling scene at the age of sixteen. Alison worked with leading brands such as Coca Cola and Portmans and regularly graced the covers of magazines Cosmopolitan, Cleo and Dolly.  In 1992, she was on the cover of Dolly seven times, and in Cleo, she was voted among the “Top Most Influential Women of the Century” by its readers.

Today, Alison is a screen writer, producer, teacher and co-host of the podcast Separate Bathrooms with her husband Cameron. She has recently written and published her book Queen Menopause – the book she wished she had when approaching menopause so she could be more prepared for what was coming, embrace the process and feel supported. In this book, she openly talks about what going through menopause is like and even better what it feels like to come out the other side.  

You can purchase Alison Daddo’s book Queen Menopause here or purchase the e-book here or listen on audible here.

Want to learn more??

Heart Health Club Nutritionist Chloe Steele shares what to eat whilst navigating Menopause to help minimise symptoms and regulate blood sugar levels and cholesterol.

To learn more about Heart Disease for Women click here.

Latest Research…

Professor Gemma Figtree’s latest research partially funded by Heart Research Australia, showed women who had a heart attack with no modifiable risk factors had a mortality rate 3 times that of men with at least one risk factor. Although more men than women are admitted to hospital experiencing a heart attack, the number of deaths are the same and heart disease kills more than two times as many Australian women than breast cancer. To read more about this research click here.

Heart Research Australia is a not-for-profit organisation that operates solely thanks to the generosity of community donations. If you are in a position to leave a donation to allow us to continue funding the work our researchers are doing and allowing us to continue educating the community we would be so grateful.