The average lifespan of Canadian women is 83.9 years. They tend to start menopause between the ages of 45 and 55, which means they can spend up to 40 per cent of their lives without the hormones estrogen and progesterone protecting their hearts.
As a result, cardiovascular disease is the second leading cause of death in Canada, and more women than men die of it each year. Treatment with hormone replacement therapy is an option, but it comes with an elevated risk of breast cancer.
Now, a University of Alberta research team has been granted more than a million dollars by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to search for and develop safer, more effective drugs to prevent heart disease in post-menopausal women.
"Hormone replacement therapy is not good for people who have a personal or family history of breast cancer because these hormones can cause breast cancer," says principal investigator Ayman El-Kadi, professor and associate dean of research and graduate studies for Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. "We're trying to find a safer and more effective alternative that cannot cause breast cancer."
El-Kadi and co-investigator Dion Brocks, professor of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences, are one of 19 U of A-based research teams to receive more than $16 million from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research through its Spring 2025 Project Grant competition.
