Libin researchers investigate the impact of exercise on cardiovascular health in women

Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 cause of premature death in women. In Canada, a woman dies every 20 minutes from cardiovascular disease.

Women face unique cardiovascular risks throughout their life, including several factors linked to reproduction. Factors like early onset of menstruation and menopause, fertility treatments, birth control methods and even the number of pregnancies can impact a woman’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease. These can lead to things like heart attacks, heart failure and strokes

Traditionally, women have been understudied when it comes to cardiovascular research. While more work needs to be done in this area, many health researchers are investigating the factors that impact women’s heart health with the goal of improving outcomes for women.

The Libin Cardiovascular Institute has numerous researchers working in this area. Two recent recruits have joined the Institute’s Women’s Cardiovascular Health Initiative (https://libin.ucalgary.ca/about-us/our-initiatives/womens-cardiovascular-health-initiative), brings together researchers and clinicians with the goal of advancing women’s heart health.

Dr. Jamie Benham

Clinician-researcher Dr. Jamie Benham, MD, PhD, is an endocrinologist who treats people with conditions related to their hormones, such as diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a common cause of female infertility that impacts up to 12 per cent of women of childbearing age.

Benham’s research interests also focus on these conditions and how they impact a woman’s risk of developing cardiovascular conditions. Her goal is to improve the odds for women.

It’s an important area of interest because according to the Heart & Stroke Foundation, people with diabetes are three times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease. Gestational diabetes increases an individual’s risk of developing Type 2 diabetes from four to seven per cent, and studies suggest PCOS doubles a woman’s risk of cardiovascular disease.

Benham’s doctoral research looked at the impact exercise has on individuals with PCOS. It  found that exercise training was effective at improving some cardiovascular risk factors in this population.

Dr. Cindy Barha

Dr. Cindy Barha, PhD, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology, looks at the impact of hormones and exercise on cognitive health with the goal of providing personalized exercise interventions to enhance brain health.

Proper blood flow within the brain is critical for cognition, so problems like blood clots, narrowing or blocked arteries or blood vessel rupture can be devastating. In fact, Alzheimer’s and some forms of dementia are linked to changes in the brain’s blood flow system.  Like SCAD, both conditions are more prevalent in females.

Although there is no cure for conditions like dementia and Alzheimer’s, researchers have learned exercise can slow cognitive decline and may help prevent dementia. The cognitive-enhancing effects of exercise may be especially strong in females – a possibility that is of great interest to Barha.

Her research program focuses on understanding how exercise, along with biological sex and hormone-related life events, like pregnancy and menopause, influence brain aging.  She wants to understand why females are more likely to develop certain forms of dementia and to determine how these factors influence the brain’s responsivity to exercise interventions later in life.

“My research focuses on cardiovascular and endocrine systems and how they work together as possible mediators of the effect of exercise on cognition,” says Barha, noting it emphasizes the need to include sex and gender considerations.

 in research “It emphasizes the need for a comprehensive approach that incorporates sex and gender considerations to develop efficacious, evidence-based exercise interventions that are personalized, not one-size-fits-all, to promote brain health.”

Barha’s work looks at the impact of aerobic training and hormone-related life events, including previous pregnancy, menopause, age of menstruation and length of fertility and genetics on cognitive health in females.

“I’m interested in how reproductive factors change the way our brain works and impact everyday thinking and decision making,” says Barha. “My goal is to find interventions that can make a difference. To that end, I also look at potential sex differences in exercise efficacy for brain health.”