The Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation released its report on the barriers women face when it comes to heart and brain health.
Every 16 minutes, a woman in Canada dies from a heart attack or stroke. The Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation says there is an imbalance in the way women are diagnosed and treated.
“We know that women are underrepresented in research that is being done despite this significant impact that heart disease and stroke have on women,” said Carolyn Cyr, director of health policy systems at Heart and Stroke Saskatchewan.
“There is less known about those specific risk factors that impact women, so thinking of pregnancy and menopause and how they contribute to their heart and brain health, as well as women may show symptoms that may not be as easily recognizable.”
According to the report, there is a lack of awareness and knowledge of how men’s and women’s biological differences impact heart and brain health.
In Saskatchewan, it is an added challenge for women in rural and Indigenous communities to receive care quickly enough.
The head of Cardiology Regina said women tend to convey multiple symptoms instead of the usual crushing central chest pain – women tend to have back pain, nausea and fatigue.
“So sometimes as health-care providers we get a little bit off track if we are not thinking ‘hey this is a women’s disease too, maybe I should do a heart tracing to make sure there’s not a heart attack happening,” said Andrea Lavoie.
Lavoie says more research should be done surrounding pregnant women and women in menopause because there are specific diseases that tend to occur especially those with other health conditions.
The findings are a follow-up to a report the organization released in 2018. Progress has been made but the foundation says there are still gaps.
– with files from Olivia Lawrence