Women’s Heart Health and the Menopausal Transition: Two Faces of the Same Coin
Colleen M. Norris, PhD, RN, MSc, FAHA, FCAHS,
Nicole L. Tegg, RN, MN, BScN,
Sofia B. Ahmed, MD, MSc,
Sharon Gingara,
Bobbi-Jo Green, BEd,
Colleen Gresiuk, RN, BScN, CNCCP(c),
Maya Henriquez, RN, MN, BScN,
Sharon L. Mulvagh, MD, FRCPC,
Andrea Van Damme, MN, NP, BScN, RN,
Caitlynd Myburgh, PhD, MSc, BSc Hons, BSc,
Michelle M. Graham, MD
Affiliations
Colleen M. Norris, PhD, RN, MSc, FAHA, FCAHS
Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Cavarzan Chair in Mature Women’s Research, WCHRI, AWHF, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Corresponding author: Dr Colleen M. Norris, Faculty of Nursing, 3rd Floor ECHA, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 1C9, Canada. Tel.: +1-780-492-0784.
Nicole L. Tegg, RN, MN, BScN
Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Sofia B. Ahmed, MD, MSc
Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Sharon Gingara
Member of Canadian Women's Heart Health Alliance with lived experience, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Bobbi-Jo Green, BEd
Member of Canadian Women's Heart Health Alliance with lived experience, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Colleen Gresiuk, RN, BScN, CNCCP(c)
University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Maya Henriquez, RN, MN, BScN
Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Sharon L. Mulvagh, MD, FRCPC
Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Andrea Van Damme, MN, NP, BScN, RN
Division of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Caitlynd Myburgh, PhD, MSc, BSc Hons, BSc
Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Faculty of Natural Sciences, The Kings University, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Michelle M. Graham, MD
Division of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
The impact of the presence or absence of sex hormones on women’s health is woefully underresearched. Fundamentally, women’s bodies are now understood to spend considerable time under widely fluctuating hormonal influences, including puberty, pregnancy, peripartum, and menopause, and a woman’s vessels are therefore preset for functional and physiological alterations based on levels of sex hormones. However, our understanding of the influences of sex hormones on the regulation of a multitude of biological and physiological processes has not translated into the development and/or collection or analyses of data on therapeutic treatments and/or outcomes in the context of women’s disease management. Résumé: Les effets sur la santé des femmes associés à la présence ou à l’absence d’hormones sexuelles ont fait l’objet de trop peu d’études. On sait essentiellement que les taux d’hormones fluctuent considérablement tout au long des étapes de la vie des femmes, qu’il s’agisse de la puberté, de la grossesse, de la période périnatale et de la ménopause, et que leurs vaisseaux sont en fait préréglés pour permettre diverses modifications fonctionnelles et physiologiques en fonction du taux d’hormones sexuelles. Cependant, notre compréhension de l’influence des hormones sexuelles sur la régulation d’une multitude de processus biologiques et physiologiques ne s’est pas traduite par la collecte et/ou l’analyse de données sur les traitements ou les résultats thérapeutiques dans le contexte de la prise en charge de diverses maladies chez les femmes.
