Hello to all,
It's Heart Month so I am again canvassing for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. In addition to my Dad, who suffered a stroke late in his long life that took away his ability to speak, this year I am remembering John Ellis from Buccaneer Bay where our summer cabin is. He died recently while out biking, much too young. I hope that funds raised will support research to prevent strokes and such deaths.
This year, Heart and Stroke Foundation's theme is to address the lack of heart and stroke research on women – see the What We Are Doing page and, highlighting new funding for research including on indigenous women, the Advancing Women’s Heart and Brain Health page.
They are partnering with Shoppers Drug Mart's Love You program, which will double any contribution you make.
The literature describes various aspects, including genetic variations in heart disease and the tendency to include more men than women in clinical research. The issues have been recognized for some time but progress is slow. A literature search turned up a good article on the bias in drug research in Canada:
Yakerson A. Women in clinical trials: a review of policy development and health equity in the Canadian context. Int J Equity Health. 2019 Apr 15;18(1):56
The full text of the article is available free online.
As for the variations in heart disease,I found the University of Ottawa's Heart Institute's site helpful, with links discussing the varying outcomes for women versus men (as does the Love You site above), with the Institute site giving some research perspective:
Mars and Venus in Heart Failure Outcomes: Why Women Are More At Risk Than Men
Why Heart & Stroke over other charities? Not only does the Foundation support research, it has an effective program for ensuring what is known is adopted in practice - see their "For Professionals" page. As a health librarian, I often saw the gap between research and practice - it is crucial to transfer research into practice, as the Foundation does.
Also, the Heart & Stroke Foundation is effective at public education - notable is their FAST "Signs of Stroke" program. They are leaders with their preventive approach, realizing that preventing heart problems and strokes is better than treating them.
Please help me reach my fundraising goal by making a donation today. We all have many demands on our charitable dollars so certainly understand if you cannot donate to the Heart & Stroke Foundation right now.
Shoppers Drug Mart started their matching gift February 1 so I am once again asking for your support when it will be doubled.
Thank you for your support!
Jim
