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30 September 2026
Healius Pathology Network a leading national provider of medical laboratory and pathology services, today released the Women and Cardiovascular Disease in Australia report, providing new insights into the cardiovascular health of Australian women through population-level pathology data.
Dr Renu Vohra, Chief Medical Officer, Healius explained the new report highlights the importance of earlier identification of cardiovascular risk factors and encourages GPs and women to prioritise conversations about heart health, prevention and ongoing risk management across their life-course.
“Key risk factors can often be identified long before symptoms develop through routine health assessments and pathology testing. Pathology is an integral part of the safety net around women’s heart health. It works best when it is used in the context of a woman’s life and history. Unfortunately, early-stage risk enhancers in women are often ignored until a woman has a cardiac event,” said Dr Vohra.
Australian women are carrying a substantial cardiometabolic burden
Pathology data in the report shows a substantial cardiometabolic burden among Australian women undergoing testing. Among testing episodes with all five contributing results assessable, 14.3% had abnormalities in two or more domains: glucose regulation, kidney function and liver enzyme.¥
“Glucose regulation, cholesterol and kidney function need to be considered together when assessing cardiovascular risk. Pathology results are most useful when interpreted alongside a woman’s medical history and other risk factors,” said Dr Johan Conradie, report co-author and Medical Director and Head of Chemical Pathology, Western Diagnostic Pathology.
“In our analysis, raised HbA1c and reduced kidney filtration became more frequent with age, while elevated total cholesterol and LDL were most frequent among women aged 50–59. This highlights midlife and older age as important opportunities for cardiovascular assessment.”
Pathology data reveals where you live can influence your risk
Drawing on de-identified pathology insights from more than one million± testing episodes across Australia, the report highlights nearly one in four assessable pathology episodes among women in remote and very remote areas returned HbA1c results in the diabetes range (23%), compared with one in seven (15%) in metropolitan areas.
The report also found socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with a greater burden of cardiovascular and metabolic risk. These findings suggest that cardiometabolic disease is not distributed evenly across Australia and where you live remains an important determinant of health outcomes.
"Pathology data can help identify where risk is concentrated and support earlier intervention, targeted education and more effective healthcare planning," said Dr Vohra.
Why cardiovascular disease risks are different for women
Cardiovascular disease remains one of the leading causes of death among Australian women, yet it continues to be under-recognised and under-diagnosed.
Unlike men, women's cardiovascular risk can be influenced by factors such as pregnancy complications, gestational diabetes, menopause and polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), which may not always be considered during routine cardiovascular assessments.
“Consideration of targeted risk factors across a woman’s life-course can help identify women who require earlier or more comprehensive assessment,” said Dr Vohra.
The report comes as cardiovascular disease gains increasing national attention as one of the leading health threats facing Australian women. Earlier this year, the Australian Government made women's cardiovascular health the first priority of its new Ministerial Expert Panel on Women's Health, recognising the need to improve prevention, diagnosis and care in an area that has historically been under-recognised and under-researched.
Hidden inherited heart disease risk may be going undetected in Australian women
The report also calls attention to Lipoprotein(a), an inherited cardiovascular risk factor, that requires a separate test from a routine cholesterol profile. Identifying an elevated level can help inform a woman’s overall cardiovascular risk assessment and guide management of other modifiable risk factors. The test is currently available privately.
"Lp(a) is a good example of how pathology can uncover cardiovascular risk that might otherwise remain invisible," said Dr Vohra. “International evidence shows elevated Lp(a) is an independent risk factor for heart attack. Improving awareness of Lp(a) could help identify women at risk much earlier in life and create opportunities for more personalised prevention and management."
Collaboration will support better outcomes for women
As well as the Report, Healius has this week released a new Cardiovascular Disease in Women CPD Education module for primary healthcare providers nationally.
"Driving change in women's cardiovascular health requires collaboration. We are proud to partner with GPs and the broader clinical community to increase awareness, support prevention to improve health outcomes for Australian women. A conversation today could help protect a woman's heart health for years to come,” added Dr Vohra.
The full report, Women and Cardiovascular Disease in Australia, is available from Healius Pathology Network here . For more information, Australians should speak with their GP about a heart health assessment and appropriate pathology testing.
ENDS
Further information please contact:
Hayley Pentermann
+61 407 073 625
Hayley.Pentermann@healius.com.au
*About Cardiometabolic Disease
Cardiometabolic disease is not a single diagnosis. The term is used descriptively for interconnected cardiovascular, kidney and metabolic conditions and their shared drivers. The formal cardiovascular–kidney–metabolic (CKM) framework links adiposity, diabetes and other metabolic risk factors, chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease.
About Healius
Healius Pathology Network is one of Australia’s leading providers of private medical laboratory and pathology services nationwide. For more than 30 years, Healius has been providing leading medical laboratory and pathology services across more than 60 laboratories nationally. Each year, approximately one in four Medicare funded pathology tests are processed in a Healius laboratory. Healius Pathology’s services extend from exclusively servicing some of Australia’s largest and most complex private and public hospitals to regional areas and remote Indigenous communities.
Notes:
** Raised HbA1c and reduced eGFR increase with age, while elevated total cholesterol and LDL peak at 50–59 years.
¥ Among episodes with complete HbA1c, kidney function and liver enzyme results.
± Based on a dataset of more than one million de-identified female pathology testing episodes. Each analysis includes episodes with assessable results for the relevant tests.
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