Heart disease affects 2.6 million Canadians, and is the second-leading cause of death in Canada. Women continue to be at higher risk than men.

Heart and Stroke Canada has released a new report for Heart Health Month in February. It highlights several disparities women continue to experience in the prevention and treatment of heart attack and stroke, in comparison to other Canadians. According to this report, women are generally unaware of their individual risk and risk factors, and are often under-diagnosed and under-treated.

This is despite heart disease and stroke being a key cause of premature death for women in Canada. Approximately 50 per cent of women who experience a heart attack had symptoms that went unrecognized.

This report also reminds us that these health outcomes are not always under the control of the individual, highlighting the role clinical and social determinants of health (which include health care, food insecurity, housing precarity, race/racism, gender and sexism) play in this disease process.

Two-thirds of clinical research has historically excluded women as research participants, or ignored the various factors that intersect with sex and gender in terms of disease risk or intervention evaluation. The absence of women in heart-related research continues to have life-altering effects on the lives of women throughout Canada and their communities.

Sex, gender and the heart

When it comes to heart health, it is important to note that there is significant evidence that biological and social differences between women, men, girls, boys and gender-diverse people contribute to differences in their overall health and experiences of disease.

Sex (biological attributes) and gender (sociocultural factors) influence our risk of developing diseases, how well we access and respond to medical treatments and how often we attempt to seek health care. Currently, several funding agencies, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR, a Tri-Council Funding Program), expect researchers to integrate sex and gender into their research design, including methodologies and data analysis where appropriate.

Despite this, sub-populations of women who are more likely to experience the effects of poor heart health are still not being seen in research studies, public health campaigns and clinical settings. This invisibility is killing them.

Read Full Story https://www.google.com/amp/s/theconversation.com/amp/dying-to-be-seen-why-womens-risk-for-heart-disease-and-stroke-is-still-higher-than-mens-in-canada-198230