FEMALE heart disease sufferers in South Lakeland, Furness and Eden can now benefit from ‘virtual’ support.

An internet chat room has been set up for women across the North West living with heart or circulatory diseases - including more than 300 in south Cumbria and Eden.

“Coronary heart disease kills nearly three times as many women as breast cancer,” explained Maureen Talbot, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation which has set up the online support room.

“Yet as a society we continue to prop up the myth that heart problems are just for men.

“Everything from TV adverts to soap plotlines show men with heart conditions. But it’s incredibly rare to hear about a woman with heart disease.

“As a result women often feel very isolated when they’re diagnosed with a heart condition.”

The ‘Women’s Room’ virtual space is an online hub available 24 hours a day.

It will allow women with heart conditions to share their experiences and find support from others in the same position and will offer practical information to help them adjust to life with the disease.

The online hub was created in response to feedback from women heart patients and wider research with more than 600 women across the UK.

Ms Talbot added: “We want to shout from the rooftops that if you’re a woman living with heart disease you are not alone.

“Our Women’s Room can give you the ‘informational hug’ you need and introduce you to other women, just like you.”

To access Women’s Room visit www.bhf.org.uk/women.