Quick online quiz can save a woman's life

(NC)—An online quiz aims to put the spotlight on the 90 per cent of women in Canada who have at least one significant risk factor for heart disease or stroke.

Created by the Heart and Stroke Foundation's The Heart Truth Campaign, the one-minute quiz at TheHeartTruth.ca/quiz is an easy awareness tool for women who are shouldered with too much to do and too little time.

Heart disease and stroke is a leading cause of death for women in Canada, and kills seven times more women than breast cancer. The foundation is urging women to make healthy lifestyle choices, recognize heart attack and stroke symptoms, and seek prompt treatment, says Bobbe Wood, foundation president.

“Women often don't recognize the initial symptoms until it's too late,” says Wood. “Sometimes, women don't even believe they are having a heart attack or stroke.”

The quick-click questionnaire weighs all your risk determinants, including: family history, age, ethnicity, activity levels, intake of fruits and vegetables, smoking, body mass index, alcohol use, fast food frequency, stress levels, diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure levels, hormone replacement, pregnancy history and use of oral contraception.

The quiz then rates each response as a risk factor, potential risk factor or the desired protective factor. “You might find many surprises,” says Wood.

For example, research shows that African Canadians, First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and South Asians from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have a greater chance of developing high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. As well, although modern oral contraceptives are safer than they were a few decades ago, research has already proven that, in a small proportion of women, they increase the risk of high blood pressure and blood clots. Women who smoke and use oral contraception are at even greater risk of heart disease, stroke and blood clots.

By identifying these risk factors and embracing incremental healthy choices, women can make good health last, says Wood.

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