![\"Broede](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768815669_584_d23e85866f7a4599c50cc215246692f5e44ec5e0.png\")
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March 15, 2026 \u2014 1:00pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Mackenzie Sinclair was walking through a bustling Melbourne Central last spring when she realised she could no longer breathe.<\/p>\n \u201cI caught the train in \u2013 it was pretty cold, and I didn\u2019t think a heap about it,\u201d the 21-year-old Geelong resident says of the lead-up to the serious asthma attack.<\/p>\n \u201cI was walking a fair bit. Then I had a cold drink, which I think also set it off. I was pretty terrified. I didn\u2019t think things would get that severe.\u201d<\/p>\n Thankfully, a security guard was nearby. The worker ushered Sinclair into a quieter store, away from crowds, where staff and passersby treated her with Ventolin until paramedics arrived.<\/p>\n The Geelong resident was then taken to hospital in the back of an ambulance. Once there, she spent hours receiving nebulisers and other kinds of medication. She was discharged that evening.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a few emergency calls … while I was in ED because my breathing was that quick. My heart rate was quite fast as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Sinclair says the terrifying experience, which took place last year, was a wake-up call. She\u2019s now much more vigilant about her health and external factors such as hay fever<\/a>.<\/p>\n The 21-year-old first experienced asthma symptoms in primary school, but these were often dismissed as issues with anxiety or fitness. Her symptoms worsened after puberty.<\/p>\n Related Article She was formally diagnosed with asthma by a GP in March 2025 after another health professional recommended she raise it during her next general check-up.<\/p>\n \u201cThat could have been why it was taken more seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n Research suggests Sinclair\u2019s experience isn\u2019t uncommon.<\/p>\n Asthma affects one in five adult Australian women. Women account for 61 per cent of all adults living with the condition, according to the Australian Centre for Airways Disease Monitoring.<\/p>\n After puberty, asthma becomes more common in females than males. Twice as many women die from the condition than men, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.<\/p>\n In 2024, 478 Australians died from asthma. Of those, 322 were women.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n More than half of all Australian women living with asthma also experience high or very high psychological distress<\/a>. And only a third have a written asthma action plan.<\/p>\n Professor Christine Jenkins, a respiratory physician, said the higher prevalence of asthma among boys and the lower prevalence of asthma reversed post-puberty.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cWe don\u2019t fully understand even how it is that boys no longer have such a high prevalence later on in adult life as they do in childhood,\u201d Jenkins said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat could help us to understand what we could do for women. [But] hormonal fluctuations are undoubtedly part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Asthma Australia chief executive Kate Miranda said asthma needed to be seen as a women\u2019s health issue.<\/p>\n Apart from an awareness campaign, Miranda said she would like the government and doctors\u2019 groups to ensure GPs talk to women about their respiratory health during assessments that take place when patients reach 35-49 years of age, and again when they turn 75.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to better integrate asthma into women\u2019s health policy. Asthma so disproportionately affects women.\u201d<\/p>\n Federal assistant health minister Rebecca White said she had recently been briefed on the issue and was surprised to learn that women suffered worse asthma than men.<\/p>\n \u201cThese aren\u2019t commonly understood statistics,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s really quite shocking.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is work already under way to address gender bias in the health system and our government has been very focused on improving access for women in healthcare. [But] there\u2019s always more work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Article More than six months have passed since Sinclair sought help from that shopping centre security guard. She\u2019s now studying a diploma of nursing in Geelong CBD, where she\u2019s motivated to give patients the best possible experience.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s nothing harder than not being able to advocate for yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Mackenzie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/187e8f878c73d59575aeaf4f2e9936f4e3e59e78.jpeg\")
Mackenzie Sinclair\u2019s asthma symptoms first emerged in primary school. But she wasn\u2019t formally diagnosed until she was an adult.Luis Enrique Ascui<\/p>\n![\"Sinclair](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/e3196abef2a3f2075d7ae47d7fa38b9eb553dff7.jpeg\")
Sinclair with her Ventolin spacer, a device that attaches to a puffer and improves delivery of the medication to the lungs.Luis Enrique Ascui<\/p>\n![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/33a3f31e06e2c98fadbf3258922b79c4659747c2.jpeg\")
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Broede Carmody<\/a> is a health reporter for The Age. Previously, he was a state political reporter for The Age and the national news blogger for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 15, 2026 \u2014 1:00pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541337,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-541336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}