We recently questioned 1,000 adults in Scotland about heart disease and found that two fifths (36%) of women have never had their cholesterol checked. In the age group 45-54, this number is 33%, even though the NHS advises everyone over the age of 40 to have this checked every five years.

Three in four women (72%) in Scotland don’t realise that coronary heart disease claims more lives than breast cancer each year and a further one in two women (46%) don’t realise that the risk of CHD increases after menopause.

In the UK, CHD claims twice as many lives are breast cancer each year, but in Scotland, this is even higher with CHD claiming three times as many lives. The nation has a higher rate of heart disease than the rest of the UK, with CHD killing 1 in 12 women in Scotland compared to 1 in 15 in the UK.

The high incidence of heart disease in Scotland is what drove us to launch our Heart of Scotland Appeal in 2019, to raise and spend money in Scotland.

To support the appeal and the HER Disease campaign, Members of Scottish Parliament met at Holyrood on World Heart Day on the 29th of September.

Two of the people speaking were Craig and Dougie Potter, son and husband of Theresa Potter who passed away suddenly from a heart attack in 2020. The family was in shock as Theresa hadn’t shown what they thought was typical heart attack symptoms, such as chest pain. Both Craig and Dougie were stunned to find out how common cardiovascular disease is in Scotland, with 48 people dying every day.

Read their full story here.