The latest and greatest research
Gender-specific research
The good news is that medicine is making up for lost time. A wealth of new research projects are underway through the Genesis Project, headed by Dr. Louise Pilote, a cardiovascular epidemiologist and professor of medicine at McGill University in Montreal.
In one of the major Genesis studies, for example, researchers will be trying to arrive at definitive differentiations between men’s and women’s heart-disease symptoms. This enormous five-year undertaking aims to compensate for the fact that, to date, less than 20 per cent of heart research participants have been women.
“When we apply the results of these studies to women, we really don’t have enough information to conclude with statistical power that the results will be the same in women.” For example, she says, this explains why cholesterol-lowering drugs are not as effective in women as they are in men.
For the most part, experts believe the medical community is beginning to treat women differently. They temper some of the scary statistics by suggesting women’s death rate due to heart attack may be higher because of age-related complications, since we tend to have our first incidences of the disease seven to 10 years later than men. But Pilote points out that women may be receiving less treatment, either because we miss the signs and therefore the window of opportunity for certain procedures or medications – a serious concern – or because there are simply fewer treatment options for us.
Marlies says women are ultimately in the best position to inform themselves. “I’m constantly making my daughter, now 28, aware of the risks she may face.”
Know your risks!
Most Canadian women have at least one risk factor for heart disease or stroke, according to Bobbe Wood, president and CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundations in B.C. and the Yukon.
Uncontrollable risk factors:
Increasing age: Men tend to have heart attacks younger, but women’s risk catches up with age.
Heredity: If you have a male or female parent or sibling who had heart disease before the age of 55, you are at an increased risk.
Previous heart attack or stroke: Forty-three per cent of women age 40 and older who survive a first heart attack will be at an increased risk to have another one within five years.
Ethnicity: First Nations, Inuit, Métis, South Asian, and African men and women are at an increased risk.
Controllable risk factors:
- Smoking (and exposure to secondhand smoke)
- High cholesterol
- High blood pressure
- Physical inactivity
- Obesity or being overweight
- Diabetes (type 1 or type 2)
Women’s risk factors
Menopause: Estrogen’s positive effect changes with menopause. It can increase bad cholesterol levels. Menopause may lead to increased blood pressure and more body fat around the waist, have harmful effects on the way blood clots, and may affect the way our bodies handle sugar.
Birth control pills: In a small proportion of women, oral contraceptives increase the risk of high blood pressure and blood clots (the risk is greater if you smoke, already have high blood pressure, are over 35 or have other risk factors for heart disease).
Pregnancy: Conditions during pregnancy that put women at a higher risk of heart disease include pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes.
