Ms Southgate had considered herself quite healthy and was shocked to find it was the result of extremely high blood pressure.

Back in Australia she found she also had abnormal levels of cholesterol. "I was just stunned, I just had no idea I had that condition, either of them," she said.

"I hadn't been to a GP for about two years before, I didn't get sick, or thought I didn't."

Ms Southgate is far from alone, according to a new study which found 17 per cent of ACT residents aged 45 and older had high blood pressure, 29 per cent had an abnormal level of cholesterol and a further 13 per cent had both.

Canberra's rates of high blood pressure and cholesterol echoed the national average, while Tasmania recorded the greatest portion of residents affected by one or either of the conditions, 67 per cent.

ACT Heart Foundation CEO Tony Stubbs said the Australian Bureau of Statistics survey, funded by the Department of Health and Ageing and the Heart Foundation, was the first of its kind to test blood pressure and cholesterol levels rather than relying on self-reporting.

Of the 11,000 participants from around the country, more than 2800 were in Canberra, he said.

In the Australian Bureau of Statistics cause of death data, released last week, heart disease remains the most single most common killer of Australians, although the total number of deaths had fallen.

But Mr Stubbs said high rates of obesity in the ACT could see it rise again.

He encouraged ACT residents to embrace a healthy lifestyle and for those 45 years and older, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Canberrans aged 35 and older, to get a heart health check at their local GP.

"You can actually see what your chances are of having a heart attack in the next five years and what things might reduce that as well," he said.

Ms Southgate now takes medication and gets her blood pressure and cholesterol checked regularly.

After about 30 years as a smoker and several attempts at using quit smoking aids, she decided to go cold turkey and has not smoked a cigarette for three months.

The Farrer woman has also taken up walking with colleagues and has managed to improve her blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

"I sleep better, certainly my sense of taste is better and generally I feel a little better, but I've got a long way to go," she said.