The researchers at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre led an initiative that was awarded $5 million over five years to improve the diagnosis and care of women in stroke through the StrokeGoRed initiative. Every year, more than 30,000 women in Canada undergo a stroke. That makes it the leading cause of premature death for women in that country. These numbers are rather very alarming while gaps in awareness, research, diagnosis, and care threaten women’s heart and brain health.
Led by Dr. Amy Yu, a neurologist and senior scientist with Sunnybrook Research Institute, the stroke researchers, clinicians, engineers, data scientists, and those with lived experience whose efforts are part of the StrokeGoRed program highlighted that “stroke occurs more often among women and may affect them differently, yet research into sex differences in diagnosis and treatment is relatively sparse.”.
Officially titled “Stroke in Women: Growing Opportunities to Realize Optimal Evaluation, Diagnosis, and Outcomes,” this is one of two research projects being undertaken by the Heart & Stroke Research Networks of Excellence in Women’s Heart and/or Brain Health. It will be the very first national research network in Canada dedicated to exclusively studying stroke in women.
The proposed research project will contribute to the advancement of knowledge regarding unique factors that influence stroke in women. As part of the project, training and mentorship will be given toward future researchers and clinicians who provide interventions in this area. The research aims at developing individualized strategies toward improving stroke care outcomes in women.
Doug Roth, Heart & Stroke CEO believes the new initiative will be a success. He says, “We hope to minimize the gap on the inequities women face in relation to their heart and brain health. These teams represent some of the best Canadian minds, and I look forward to what we will learn from their research and how we can apply it to enhance women’s health.”
Leading causes of premature death in women, heart disease and stroke, and a recognition that risk factors for women are discovered at various stages of life-possibly during pregnancy or menopause and when their first child is born-this makes the StrokeGoRed initiative ready to create positive alterations in these critical health disparities.
Read More: Click Here
