Three days after her 44th birthday, Grace Dierssen recognized the ominous signs of a heart attack.

It wasn’t a good time for a health crisis. She was scheduled to leave on a European vacation the next week.

She ignored the discomfort, exhaustion and breathing difficulties, wondering if perhaps her symptoms were all in her mind, and headed off to work.

Hours later, she couldn’t stand the pain and went to a walk-in clinic. Immediately after, she was in an ambulance heading to the emergency room.

Dierssen’s heart attack was her catalyst for a complete lifestyle overhaul. She quit high-powered job in software development and e-commerce, prioritized exercise and a healthy diet, and is finally spending time focusing on her own well-being.

“As women, we tend to put everyone else’s needs ahead of ours,” she says. “And I was conscious of that in my own recovery. I’ve learned to stick up for myself, and put my health first.”

Good advice that’s supported by findings in Dr. Karin Humphries’ recent Heart and Stroke Foundation- funded study.

Dr. Humphries, the UBC Heart and Stroke Foundation Professor in Women’s Cardiovascular Health, along with Dr. Mona Izadnegahdar, followed women (including Dierssen) and men under the age of 55 for a year after their heart attacks.

They discovered that throughout recovery, women’s health statuses lagged significantly behind the men’s, from symptoms to physical function and quality of life. Women were not making the recovery they should relative to men in their first year.

“That has important implications for society,” says Dr. Humphries. “If, on average, men recover and women don’t, then we need to better understand why that’s happening, and what we can do to help them.”

Although heart disease is a leading cause of death for women in Canada most studies in the past focused on men alone and assumed that the findings would apply to both genders equally.

So when Dr. Humphries discovered that recovery results don’t translate across gender that easily, she identified a huge gap in knowledge. She is helping pioneer a new field of study on prevention and care for women with heart disease.

“Many of these women have jobs and children, and are perhaps looking after older parents. Making lifestyle changes can become very hard, when you have all of that other stuff to worry about,” Dr. Humphries says.

Humphries and Izadnegahdar are looking deeper into the barriers patients of both sexes face in their recovery, by studying how men and women respond to healthy lifestyle behaviours recommended after a heart attack.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation’s mission is to prevent disease, save lives and promote recovery. A volunteer-based health charity, we strive to tangibly improve the health of every Canadian family, every day. Healthy lives free of heart disease and stroke. Together we will make it happen.

Heart and Stroke Foundation, BC & Yukon

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