cardiovascular disease: new initiative aims to redefine cardiac care for women
the montreal heart institute foundation’s women’s heart health fund will support cutting-edge science to accelerate the development of new precision treatments
4 minute read
a pioneer in her field, dr. céline fiset, a pharmacist and researcher in cardiac electrophysiology at the mhi, has dedicated her career to studying women's hearts and focuses on arrythmia during pregnancy. supplied
this story is sponsored by
montreal heart institute foundation
this story was created by content works, postmedia’s commercial content division, on behalf of a client.
while one in three women will develop heart disease during their lifetime, many canadians believe it mainly strikes men.
in fact, in canada, “more women die from myocardial infarction, commonly known as a heart attack, than men,” says nathalie rochette, vice president at the montreal heart institute (mhi) foundation. today, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of premature death among canadian women, claiming nearly five times more lives per year than breast cancer.
yet, until recently, “cardiovascular research was built on a universal approach,” rochette says, meaning it ignored biological and physical differences between men and women, such as women’s smaller hearts and blood vessels. “women remain underrepresented in cardiology trials — making up fewer than 30 per cent of participants — which contributes to under-diagnosis, dosing gaps and less-effective treatment for women,” rochette notes.
consequently, mhi scientists have long held the conviction that women’s hearts deserve dedicated attention. “at the mhi foundation, our close ties with physicians, scientists and staff put us in a unique position to mobilize philanthropy to fuel cutting-edge science,” says rochette.
sponsored by:
montreal heart institute foundation
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thus, the mhi’s women’s heart health fund was launched. “the goal is to raise $25 million by 2030,” rochette says. “the women’s heart health fund offers a tangible solution to improve how we approach women’s cardiac care.”
the fund will enable the mhi to enroll more women in research projects, adapt treatments to their unique characteristics, develop prevention programs better suited to their needs, and train the next generation of scientists in order to dispense care that is more personalized.
funding will be deployed across four strategic areas to move discoveries from the laboratory to the bedside more quickly.
nathalie rochette, vice president at the mhi foundation. supplied
the first of these pillars is basic research to unravel biological mechanisms unique to women’s hearts: for instance, looking for the cellular or molecular pathways underlying heart complications that can arise during pregnancy.
clinical research aimed at tailoring treatments specifically to women makes up the second quadrant. for example, trying to determine if certain clot-preventing drugs given after a heart attack are safer than others for women.
a third focus: prevention research to develop targeted interventions, such as exercise programs that halt or reverse menopause-related changes in the heart and blood vessels that raise the risk of heart attack and stroke.
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another priority area is making personalized medicine the norm by identifying substances in the blood that could be used to customize drug doses to each woman’s individual biology.
as part of its educational mission, the new fund will also support the mhi’s role as a leading center for specialists to sustain long-term impact.
“for a long time, people said pregnancy is not a disease, and being a woman is not a disease,” so research funding was rarely, if ever awarded to study sex differences, says dr. céline fiset, a pharmacist and researcher in cardiac electrophysiology at the mhi. in addition to playing a crucial role in advancing towards the goal of personalized care for women’s hearts, dr. fiset believes the new fund will help raise public awareness of early heart attack signs, which are currently missed in 78 per cent of women.
mhi scientists have long held the conviction that women’s hearts deserve dedicated attention. supplied
for many years, dr. fiset was the only woman conducting basic research at the mhi. a pioneer in her field, she has dedicated her career to studying women’s hearts and focuses on arrythmia during pregnancy, a period in which the heart works up to 50 per cent harder. “we say that pregnancy is the first stress test the heart goes through,” says dr. fiset.
during pregnancy, women run an increased risk of developing heart rhythm abnormalities. in cardiac arrhythmias, “the heart beats irregularly — or too fast, or too slow,” dr. fiset explains, due to disturbances in the heart’s electrical system. while not all arrhythmias are dangerous, they can increase risks to mother and baby.
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a constellation of changes contributes to this heightened arrhythmia risk when someone is expecting. “the heart works 50 per cent harder during pregnancy,” dr. fiset notes. “there are huge increases in hormones such as estrogen, and we know the heart’s electrical system could be affected by estrogen and other hormones.”
what’s more, the rate of arrhythmia during pregnancy has been rising, amid a combination of other contributing factors. “age is a risk factor, and women are now having children at an older age by choice,” dr. fiset says. older mothers are also more likely to have high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes, all of which increase arrhythmia risk.
“we hope to identify the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the increased risk of arrhythmia during pregnancy,” says dr. fiset. for example, by exposing cardiac pacemaker cells to high levels of estrogen, “we can see which gene, protein or ion channel involved in the electrical activity is modified,” dr. fiset explains. this could point the way to drug targets. “we aim to identify which ones are modified, and how we could manage these pregnancy-induced changes more precisely,” she adds.
“the foundation plays a vital role in advancing women’s heart health research and in encouraging emerging new researchers to carry this mission forward,” says dr. fiset. “the foundation deserves credit for championing women’s heart health research and fostering the next generation of researchers in the field.”
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visit the women’s heart health fund to support projects that will improve women’s heart health in canada.
this story was created by healthing content works, healthing.ca’s commercial content division, on behalf of montreal heart institute foundation.
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