Heart Health In Canada: CANet’s Innovative Platform Empowers PatientsGetting to the heart of the matter: With a focus on patient-driven care, CANet develops a secure and interactive digital platform to help Canadians improve their heart health.
Heart disease continues to be a leading cause of death in Canada, affecting women and men across all demographics. While most of us understand heart disease to be a major cause of heart attacks, the reality is that the disease is responsible for a host of other ailments, including heart rhythm disorders, blood clots, strokes and even the loss of extremities (like fingers and toes) due to poor blood flow.
Preventing heart disease
But there is hope. Heart disease is not only avoidable but also manageable. “The good news is that all of these issues are preventable,” says Dr. Anthony Tang, CEO & Scientific Director of the Cardiovascular Network of Canada (CANet). “Science has progressed to the point that even if you have these conditions — there are really good treatments. “
The key to preventing heart disease is to address key risk factors. According to Dr. Tang, major contributors to poor heart health include smoking (which includes cannabis), obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol. He emphasizes that prioritizing wellness by quitting smoking, increasing exercise, eating healthy, monitoring cholesterol and blood pressure and even reducing or cutting out alcohol consumption all together can have a profound impact on heart health.
Another important factor in maintaining cardiovascular health is to understand how a variety of health conditions can overlap. “Diseases like diabetes and hypertension and many other conditions can affect cardiovascular issues,” says Dr. Tang. “The consequences of these diseases can lead to negative cardiovascular outcomes. For this reason, we also work with many non-profit organizations like the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, the Canadian Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndromes (SADS) Foundation and the Heart and Stroke Foundation to help develop health guidelines for the healthcare givers and education for the patients and public to treat and to prevent the condition as a whole.”
“Diseases like diabetes and hypertension and many other conditions can affect cardiovascular issues. The consequences of these diseases can lead to negative cardiovascular outcomes.”
Wholistic and innovative patient care
One of the overarching goals of CANet is to improve the diagnosis, awareness and management of heart conditions by empowering patients to play a more active role in managing their own health. CANet also seeks to improve patient care by fostering more effective collaborations between patients and health care providers. To this end, CANet has developed a groundbreaking digital health platform called VIRTUES.
This platform is designed to provide people with cardiac conditions with the most relevant and up-to-date medical treatment options and educational resources based on their unique health profile. VIRTUES works by taking a variety of relevant health information (input by either a patient or a medical professional), analyzing the data and then providing easy to understand treatment guidelines tailored to a user’s personalized health profile. Patients can then work with their health care provider to implement the best treatment option in their everyday life.
“(with VIRTUES) We provide very precise guidelines and together, patients and caregivers can decide what advice to implement for overall better health.”
“What we are doing here is engaging Canadians to put their medical condition information into our secure online platform so they can receive detailed, data-driven recommendations that can also be shared with their healthcare providers,” explains Dr. Tang. “We provide very precise guidelines and together, patients and caregivers can decide what advice to implement for overall better health.”
If you’re concerned about your heart health, sign up for the VIRTUES Cardiac Care national research study at canetinc.ca/virtues. By answering a few simple questions, you can be on your way to better cardiac health.
Source: Toronto Star — Special Interest section by Mediaplanet (Health Insight)