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SCAD Survivors Raise Awareness, Fund Research for Heart Attacks in Fit Women
Confirmed
In Short: Survivors of Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD) are raising awareness and funding research to combat the leading cause of heart attacks in women under 50.
Survivors of Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD), a poorly understood heart attack predominantly affecting women in their 30s and 40s, are joining forces to raise awareness and fund life-saving research.
SCAD is the leading cause of heart attacks in women under 50 and a major cause of sudden heart attacks in otherwise healthy, fit adults, often occurring without traditional risk factors.
During a SCAD event, a sudden tear occurs within the layers of one artery supplying blood to the heart, blocking blood flow and triggering a heart attack.
With the average age of sufferers at just 42 and women accounting for 80% of all cases, SCAD has reshaped thousands of lives and families nationwide.
Heart disease kills almost three times more Australian women each year than breast cancer, yet funding for heart research historically fails to match these trends.
Sarah Ford, 39 and fit, suffered a SCAD heart attack while playing netball.
The incidence in women suggests a hormonal link, though it is still being studied.
What this adds
This report adds details on the specific mechanisms and risk factors of SCAD, as well as the ongoing research and awareness efforts by survivors.
The sources have not established a definitive cause for the hormonal link or identified all women susceptible to SCAD.
Background
Survivors of SCAD, a poorly understood heart attack that predominantly affects women in their 30s and 40s, are raising awareness and funding research to combat the condition.
Survivors of SCAD are raising awareness and funding research to combat the leading cause of heart attacks in women under 50.
What's confirmed
- Survivors of Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD), a poorly understood heart attack predominantly affecting women in their 30s and 40s, are joining forces to raise awareness and fund life-saving research.
- SCAD is the leading cause of heart attacks in women under 50 and a major cause of sudden heart attacks in otherwise healthy, fit adults, often occurring without traditional risk factors.
- During a SCAD event, a sudden tear occurs within the layers of one artery supplying blood to the heart, blocking blood flow and triggering a heart attack.
- With the average age of sufferers at just 42 and women accounting for 80% of all cases, SCAD has reshaped thousands of lives and families nationwide.
- Heart disease kills almost three times more Australian women each year than breast cancer, yet funding for heart research historically fails to match these trends.
- Sarah Ford, 39 and fit, suffered a SCAD heart attack while playing netball.
- The incidence in women suggests a hormonal link, though it is still being studied.
What's still developing
- What began as a grassroots initiative has since grown into a national charity supporting women and families across Australia, contributing more than $337,000 to medical research.
- "Driven by survivors, we're on a mission to help fund this ground-breaking Australian research to reduce the risk of SCAD for our children and grandchildren and give survivors hope," said Mr Ford, now president of SCAD Research Inc. That research is already yielding major breakthroughs.
- "Until recently, SCAD was considered a rare disease, with little known about its causes or why it mainly affects women," said Professor Jason Kovacic of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, which leads Australia's first and largest SCAD research program.
- This tear blocks blood flow, which can trigger a heart attack, cardiac arrest, and sometimes death.
- “Instead of the artery being blocked by slow-growing cholesterol or fat, the wall of the blood vessel unexpectedly splits, trapping blood inside the lining and blocking the flow of oxygen to the heart. The artery is squeezed,” says Dr Rajiv Gulati, Chair of the Division of Interventional Cardiology in the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, who has been specialising in women’s heart health.
- For long, women were thought to be at a low risk of heart attacks in their younger years considering the female hormone estrogen helps keep blood vessels flexible and reduces inflammation.
- It was only after menopause that a woman’s risk of heart attack and cardiovascular diseases was seen as equal to men.
- However, as younger apparently fit women in their 30s and 40s are increasingly reporting heart attacks without any risk factors like cholesterol, blood sugar or smoking, a new condition has caught the attention of researchers globally.
- In a normal heart attack, a cholesterol-rich plaque in a heart artery usually ruptures or erodes, causing a blood clot that obstructs blood flow.
- The American Heart Association’s 2026 scientific statement on acute coronary syndromes in premenopausal women highlights SCAD as an under-recognised problem.
- Why does SCAD disproportionately affect younger and middle-aged women?
- “There are, of course, major hormonal changes at this time, which likely cause fragility of the coronary vessel wall in a small proportion of women who are susceptible,” he says.
Sources
- Baptist Healthlink
- St George & Sutherland Shire Leaderlink
- The Indian Expresslink
- Times of Indialink
- Medscapelink
- Itemonlinelink
- Thenewsmilllink
- Thecatholicspiritlink
- Styleravelink
- CBS Newslink
- The Indian Expresslink
- Independentlink
- Nchstatslink
- Peoplespharmacylink
- Scitechdailylink
- WarpBeat — background on SCAD Survivors Raise Awareness, Fund Research for Heart Attacks in Fit Women link
- KVUE — video link