THE federal electorate of Lyne – which includes the Hastings – has ranked top in a list of NSW stroke hot spots.
The electorate’s ranking was revealed in a trail-blazing study conducted by the National Stroke Foundation.
The Stroke in Australia: No Postcode Untouched report revealed NSW is home to five of the country’s top 10 hot spots for numbers of stroke survivors and six of the top 10 areas for number of strokes.
The report used data compiled and analysed by Deloitte Access Economics to reveal just how big the stroke challenge is in each Australian federal electorate.
In 2014 Lyne had 3873 stroke survivors living in the electorate, 478 strokes and 113 deaths.
This was followed by Gilmore – 3718, 446 and 103, Richmond – 3599, 438 and 103 and Cowper – 3584, 431 and 101.
NSW National Stroke Foundation executive officer Greg Cantwell said that the state’s greatest risk factors for stroke included the 26 per cent of people with high cholesterol, 18 per cent with high blood pressure and 45 per cent who were physically inactive.
“Our report shows that no postcode is untouched by stroke,” Mr Cantwell said.
“Stroke kills more women than breast cancer and more men than prostate cancer.
“This devastating disease also places significant demands on health services, families and the community across the country.”
Nationally, NSW ranked third in terms of state-wide stroke burden.
Almost the entire NSW coast featured in the top quarter of electorates for stroke burden with a belt running from the Byron Bay electorate of Richmond through to the doorstep of inner-Sydney electorates North Sydney and Warringah and then south of the city to the Victorian border.
Mr Cantwell said the report showed that more work needs to be done to reduce the impact of stroke in the state, including ongoing efforts to provide better access to stroke care.
Part of the reason for Lyne’s high ranking is believed to be the large number of older people who retire to the Port Macquarie region.
