Examining a ‘top to toe’ approach to women's health

"If you look at the leading cause of death in women, it's dementia, followed by heart disease, followed by stroke. There's nothing covered by a bikini in the leading causes of death in women.”

Professor Cassandra Szoeke

Our inaugural Women’s Health Brunch Brunch was a big big success, with Professor Cassandra Szoeke condensing more than 30 years of research into an insightful 30 minute presentation.

Held at Country Club Tasmania on April 21, the fundraising event was centred around Professor Szoeke’s latest book: Secrets of Women’s Healthy Ageing.

As the Director of the Healthy Ageing Project at the University of Melbourne, Professor Szoeke oversees the longest ongoing study of women’s health in Australia.

With a focus on a holistic ‘top to toe’ approach to health, she said there were many positive habits women could adopt to help improve their outcomes.

This includes the importance of daily movement, with simple actives such as gardening or going for a walk proven to reduce the threat of chronic diseases - if done daily.

“We expected that aerobic exercise that makes you breathe hard would be the absolute best exercise," she said.
"What we found was that women who exercise every day for 45 minutes to an hour, even if that was just gardening, even if that was just, walking the dog around the block, they were the ones who did the best."

She said the importance of movement was so evident in the research conducted, that people who sat less were at a lower risk of developing dementia.

"If you look at the leading cause of death in women, it's dementia, followed by heart disease, followed by stroke. There's nothing covered by a bikini in the leading causes of death in women.”

‘Secrets of Women’s Healthy Ageing’ draws on the findings of a unique clinical study that focused on the health of more than 400 women in their mid-to-late lives.

Findings cover brain, heart and gut health, diet, sleep, exercise and the benefits of socialising. Importantly, they highlight how the results relate directly to women's wellbeing.

Professor Szoeke is a professor of medicine, doctor, scientist and clinical researcher and an expert on women's health and has published hundreds of academic clinical publications.

This event would not have been possible without the support of our Gold Sponsor The Bubble Launceston, and Event Partners VJAM and Country Club Tasmania.

Special thanks also to our event MC Kim Millar.

We look forward to presenting more events like this in the near future.