MEDIA RELEASE: 2 February 2018 – R00023
Calling it another glass ceiling for women, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada released the 2018 Heart Report Thursday, Feb. 1 in which it said “women’s hearts are victims of a system ill-equipped to diagnose, treat and support them.”
While the report indicates that two-thirds of the clinical research about heart disease focuses on men, a Department of Nursing professor at Brock University is helping to change that.
The research of Nursing Assistant Professor Sheila O’Keefe-McCarthy has found that women fail to recognize cardiac event warning signs such as terrible pain, unusual fatigue and escalating anxiety.
O’Keefe-McCarthy is available to speak about:
- Distinct early heart attack warning signs women experience and the importance of identifying them.
- Research that examined more than 4,400 women, which showed there are misunderstandings and poor recognition of heart-related pain.
- Development of a multimedia education strategy geared toward women that focuses on cardiac-related early warning signs.
“Canadian women’s heart health is precariously dangling by a thread,” O’Keefe-McCarthy says. “The time has come to transform how we think about and respond to their unique heart health experience and needs.”
For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:
* Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970
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