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Health experts are urging men in their 40s and even younger to have their hearts checked, following the weekend death of former All Black John Drake.
Drake, a television rugby commentator and Herald columnist, collapsed and died of a heart attack at his Mt Maunganui home on Saturday. He was 49.
"It's quite unusual for people under 50 to 55 to have heart attacks," University of Auckland researcher Professor Rod Jackson said yesterday.
"Heart attacks before the age of 75 or 80 are almost entirely preventable - don't smoke, eat right and do some exercise."
The rate of heart attacks under 65 was more than three times higher among men than women, although the gap subsequently narrowed, probably as the effects of the hormonal changes of menopause caught up with women.
He said everyone should avoid food rich in saturated fats - such as butter - as they were strongly linked to cardiovascular disease.
Research on lumberjacks who ate a lot of dairy food had shown that being extremely fit was no protection.
National health guidelines recommend most men be checked for their risk of cardiovascular disease at 45 and women at 55 - or 10 years earlier if they have a family history of heart disease or are smokers.
Checks for Maori, Pacific people and Indians should start 10 years earlier than for others.
Dr Lannes Johnson, a men's health advocate and the chief medical adviser to West Auckland-based Health West primary health organisation, said all men should try to find out their family health history.
"If there's any family history of heart disease or unusual cancers or early prostate cancer, those men should start to think about being checked at 35, then in five-yearly increments.
"If your dad was alive and well at 80, the ideal age for starting to look at risk factors is 45, no later."
Half of heart attack victims were unaware they were at risk, so were receiving no treatment. Of them, half died.