2021 Spring Impact Report
Beat as one Big breakthroughs. Better health. Because of YOU.
You’re accelerating innovation in a new season of hope
A look inside your report: How you improve lives Page 3
Help after heart attack Page 6
Beating high blood pressure Page 7
Stroke survivors like Samantha Gomez rely on Heart & Stroke research. See her story at heartandstroke.ca
Thank you for rising to the challenge We’re beating as one to fund breakthroughs that save lives
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hanks to your incredible support through a year that challenged all of us, Heart & Stroke accelerated and achieved key advances in 2020. Your donations helped fund 891 of Canada’s best researchers, with a total investment of more than $22 million. And those researchers delivered. Dr. Jacqueline Saw moved closer to cracking the mystery of a condition that threatens the hearts of young women (see p. 8). Dr. Guillaume Paré helped discover why people with heart conditions and stroke are more likely to die from COVID-19 (see p. 4). You’re beating inequity: In addition to funding dozens of areas of life-saving research, your remarkable support for our women’s campaign, launched in 2018, has enabled big strides toward reducing the research gap that has disadvantaged women’s heart and brain health for too long. These advances will lead to better outcomes and more women’s lives saved: •M ore dedicated research: Eleven new research grants were awarded through the national Women’s Heart and Brain Health Research Competition, which we fund with support from Health Canada. This brings the total to 26. •M ore focus on women: Historically most heart and brain research has been based on men. In 2019-20, we worked to have more than 80% of our funded research include sex-and gender-based analysis and reporting. This increase keeps us on track to our goal of 100%.
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• More collaboration: The Women’s Heart and Brain Health Research Network, founded by Heart & Stroke, grew by more than 20% to 182 members. The network brings together researchers, healthcare providers, decision-makers and women with lived experience to share their expertise. Almost 2/3 of members say it has increased their capacity to conduct research on women’s heart and brain health.
Thanks to you, more advances will lead to more lives saved. Heart & Stroke teams co-authored five scientific papers, including an assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on people in Canada with heart conditions and stroke. Finally, your donations provide crucial support to build the next generation of researchers. Last year we increased to 28% the proportion of grant recipients who are in the early stages of their careers.
Thank you for helping to ensure that the breakthroughs keep coming. To learn more about the innovative research you’re funding, visit: heartandstroke.ca/research
More ways your gifts save and improve lives Your support made a difference to people from coast to coast to coast.
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verything we do is aimed at reducing the death rate and risk factors associated with heart conditions, stroke and vascular cognitive impairment. Research is at the core, but your support drives so much more! Here are other advances you made possible in 2020: Protecting youth from vaping: Heart & Stroke advocacy spurred government action to reduce vaping’s hold on youth, including a federal proposal to cap nicotine levels plus policies by several provinces. Improving stroke care: Our updated Stroke Best Practices website provided the latest evidence-based information and support to more than 100,000 site visitors. Teaching life-saving CPR: Our resuscitation and first aid courses helped almost 330,000 people — from experts to everyday Canadians — learn CPR or upgrade their skills.
Offering helping hands: More than 3,000 survivors and caregivers found information and friendly support in our Heart & Stroke online peer-to-peer communities. Building healthier kids: More than 1,800 teachers across the country reached 60,000 children — one third of them Indigenous — with our HeartSmart Kids resources, which encourage lifelong healthy habits.
See how your support is helping beat heart disease and stroke, at: heartandstroke.ca/what-we-do
Beat heart disease Beat stroke Beat sudden devastation Beat inequity Beat the unknown
heartandstroke.ca 3
Heart disease research reveals COVID-19 surprise Dr. Guillaume Paré’s study helps explain new threat posed by virus
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What we have found is quite remarkable. There is a direct parallel with factors... that would lead to worse outcomes with COVID-19. Dr. Guillaume Paré Heart & Stroke researcher
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eart & Stroke researcher Dr. Guillaume Paré wanted to understand what was putting younger patients at risk of early heart attack. Thanks to funding from donors like you, Dr. Paré’s lab was studying the role of the ACE2 receptor, a protein found on the surface of cells, mostly in the blood vessels. The researchers knew it plays a big part in the development of high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. But they weren’t expecting what happened next. While the team investigated how genetic and external factors influence concentrations of ACE2, along came the COVID-19 pandemic. ACE2, it turns out, is the main doorway through which the coronavirus enters cells to cause infection.
Thanks to your continued support, Dr. Paré was able to include this important new focus in his research. “What we have found is quite remarkable,” he says. “There is a direct parallel with factors that would increase the activity of this receptor — such as obesity and diabetes — and the factors that would lead to worse outcomes with COVID-19.”
This discovery could help explain why people with existing heart conditions or stroke are more likely to die from COVID-19.
Don’t let COVID fatigue wear you down It’s important to stay vigilant, especially if you live with heart disease or stroke
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f you’re finding it stressful to keep up with ever changing pandemic precautions, you might be feeling “COVID fatigue.” Even with vaccines rolling out, it’s important to keep following public health guidance. There are ways to stay motivated. For example: • talk to others about the challenges you’re facing • focus on the things you can control • try writing down your commitment to healthy behaviour. Despite how long we’ve all been living with the coronavirus, remember the need to keep vigilant, especially if you’re living with heart disease or stroke.
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For more self-care tips, plus up-to-date resources for keeping you and your loved ones safe, visit: heartandstroke.ca/coronavirus
A community beats as one Your support for Heart & Stroke makes breakthroughs possible
Here’s what your donations do:
Champion critical research
Forge successful partnerships
Create healthier environments
We rally the best scientific minds around critical heart and brain issues. Their research breakthroughs help advance diagnosis and treatment, repair damaged hearts and minimize the debilitating effects of strokes.
We identify crucial issues that will lead to better health outcomes for people across Canada and build teams to tackle these challenges. Our partnerships with hospitals, universities and health institutions help close gaps in patient care.
We advocate to leaders and policy makers so everyone in Canada can lead healthier lives, reducing their risk of heart disease and stroke. We push to change laws (on issues like youth vaping), improve health policies and beat health inequities.
Trigger systems change
Fund crucial initiatives
Hospitals need support. We collaborate to build evidence that helps them improve current and future patient care, reducing the devastating toll of heart conditions and stroke.
As Canada’s largest non-governmental funder of heart disease and stroke research in Canada, we ensure continuous financial support to enable breakthroughs. And we drive innovations to confront challenges like high blood pressure and cardiac arrest.
With your support, research leads the fight against heart disease and stroke. To see what we’re fighting for, visit: heartandstroke.ca 5
Help when he needed it most Paul beat heart attack. But his toughest challenge was recovering his mental health
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At some point, I realized that I had met some pretty spectacular people in cardiac rehab. Paul Goldberg Heart attack survivor
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o Paul Goldberg, the first few months of cardiac rehabilitation felt almost worse than the severe heart attack he had recently survived. As an active 50-year-old with two young daughters and a successful construction business, he says: “I arrogantly dismissed the fact that there was heart disease on one side of my family. I wasn’t anticipating a 100% blockage of my main artery.” Afterwards, having to attend cardiac rehab group therapy with 70- and 80-year-olds made him feel completely out of place: “I had to lean on other people. I didn’t want to be there. And it made me angry.”
Paul kept going. “And at some point, I realized that I had met some pretty spectacular people in cardiac rehab,” he says. Today, he knows why he stuck with it: “I learned to be calmer. I don’t sweat the small stuff anymore. It’s motivated me to enjoy my life.” He’s grateful that Heart & Stroke is funding research that will help improve both physical recovery and mental health.
Support from donors like you changes the lives of survivors like Paul. Because when we beat as one, we bring hope to every community in Canada.
Connect to the power of peer support If you’re a survivor or caregiver, there’s a Heart & Stroke community for you
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ften, people who experience a heart condition or stroke focus on recovering physically, while ignoring their mental health. Yet as Paul’s story above proves, you can learn a lot from someone who’s been there. Whether you are a survivor or a caregiver, peer support groups offer a welcoming space. And benefits like these can actually improve your health: • a mood lift when you’re feeling low • tips to cope with change • help for families adapting to a new normal.
Join a Heart & Stroke online community. Visit: heartandstroke.ca/connect 6
A new way to beat high blood pressure Participants reduced their risk through healthy eating, activity and more
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By holding me accountable, Activate helped me meet my goals. Babatunji Farinloye Activate participant
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igh blood pressure (hypertension) is the number one risk factor for stroke and a leading risk for heart disease. Without intervention, half of people with pre-hypertension may develop high blood pressure within five years. An innovative Heart & Stroke wellness program called Activate has shown success in reducing that risk. Almost 4,600 people took part in Activate, which ran from 2018 to 2020, with support from several partners.
membership, and an online platform where participants tracked progress and accessed helpful information. Follow up on more than 1,000 participants revealed that Activate exceeded its goal of stopping blood pressure from increasing. On average, participants reduced their blood pressure by 4.4-points – a significant decrease.
Learn about managing your blood pressure. Visit: heartandstroke.ca/bloodpressure
Participants received advice from a health coach and a dietitian. The program included a two-month YMCA
Recipe: Lemon flax salmon This quick and easy dinner is packed with heart-healthy omega-3s Makes 4 servings | Time: 17 minutes Ingredients:
Directions:
• 2 tbsp (25 mL) ground flax (flax meal)
1. Preheat oven to 425F (220 C). In a small bowl, stir together flax, parsley, lemon zest and chili powder; set aside.
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) chopped fresh parsley • 1/2 tsp (2 mL) chili powder
2. Place salmon portions onto parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush salmon with oil and sprinkle tops with flax mixture. Press flax mixture gently on top to help stick.
• 4 boneless skinless salmon portions (about 4 oz/125 g each)
3. Roast for about 12 minutes or until fish flakes when tested with fork.
• 1 tsp (5 mL) canola oil
4. Serve with lemon wedges, and perhaps a side salad!
• 1 tsp (5 mL) grated lemon zest
• Lemon wedges (optional)
For more heart-healthy recipes, visit heartandstroke.ca/recipes 7
Finding new clues to a deadly condition Leading SCAD expert shares new discoveries
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Without your donations, we would not have been able to launch this very important genetic study. Dr. Jacqueline Saw Heart & Stroke researcher
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he problem: Women in their 30s and 40s were showing up in emergency with heart attack symptoms, but no risk factors for heart disease. Some were even turned away due to their age. “I’ve seen so many horror stories,” says Dr. Jacqueline Saw, Canada’s leading expert on SCAD (spontaneous coronary artery dissection). Almost 90% of SCAD patients are women, and most are young and healthy. SCAD strikes without warning, when a tear appears in the wall of a heart artery. Thanks to your continued generous support, Dr. Saw and her research team are conducting the Canadian SCAD study, which is filling in major pieces of the puzzle around this condition.
The solution: Analyzing genetic records from SCAD patients, they found seven common factors, including a gene that regulates a protein found in the wall of the heart artery where SCAD typically occurs. This discovery could lead to understanding how the artery weakens and tears. By combining data from SCAD study patients, Dr. Saw is working to tease out more risk factors behind the disease. The goal is to prevent SCAD before it strikes, with your continuing support.
We need you more than ever because our cause is more urgent than ever.
Will your legacy be to protect your loved ones and future generations from heart disease and stroke? Not much in life is certain, but one thing you can count on is the difference your decision to make a legacy gift to Heart & Stroke will make to those you love. If you would like to have a conversation about including a gift to Heart & Stroke in your Will, please call Mary Goodfellow at 1-800-205-4438 or visit: heartandstroke.ca/legacy
Dr. John McNeill chose to support Heart & Stroke with a gift in his Will.
3 easy, secure ways to make your gift today: Mail in your enclosed reply card
Donate online at heartandstroke.ca/impact
© Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, 2021 | ™ The heart and / Icon on its own and the heart and / Icon followed by another i con or words are trademarks of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.
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