A new report from the Heart and Stroke Foundation says Canadian women are 鈥渦nnecessarily suffering and dying from heart disease鈥� because of a system that is ill-equipped to diagnose, treat and support them.

鈥淗eart disease is the leading cause of premature death for women in Canada, yet women鈥檚 hearts are still vastly misunderstood,鈥� said foundation CEO Yves Savoie in a report released Thursday.

鈥淚t鈥檚 shocking that we are so far behind in our understanding of women鈥檚 hearts, and that new knowledge is so slow to reach the bedside.鈥�

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The report says a woman dies of heart disease in Canada every 20 minutes and are five times more likely to die from heart disease than breast cancer yet two-thirds of heart disease clinical research still focuses on men.

鈥淲omen are under-researched, under-diagnosed and under-treated, under-supported and under-aware,鈥� said Savoie. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unacceptable, and the situation has got to change 鈥� we need to smash this glass ceiling.鈥�

The foundation said women are more likely than men to die or have a second heart attack within the first six months of a cardiac event and women are less likely to get bypass surgery and stents to restore blood flow.

Savoie said there is a need to 鈥渆ducate and equip health care systems and providers to think about, investigate and treat women鈥檚 heart disease differently than they do men鈥檚.鈥�

On the positive side, Savoie said more organizations that fund research are requiring sex and gender to be considered in research proposals and that Canadian researchers are at the forefront of new studies into heart conditions that predominantly affect women.

鈥淧rogress has been made recently, but not nearly fast enough to equitably protect women鈥檚 hearts,鈥� said Savoie.

鈥淭he challenge is to accelerate the pace of change, to gather new knowledge and translate it into better and safer heart healthcare for women.鈥�

The Canadian Press

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