The Canadian Women's Heart Health Alliance ATLAS on the Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Management of Cardiovascular Disease in Women - Chapter 7: Sex, Gender, and the Social Determinants of Health.

Women vs men have major differences in terms of risk-factor profiles, social and environmental factors, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Women are more likely than men to experience health issues that are complex and multifactorial, often relating to disparities in access to care, risk-factor prevalence, sex-based biological differences, gender-related factors, and sociocultural factors. Furthermore, awareness of the intersectional nature and relationship of sociocultural determinants of health, including sex and gender factors, that influence access to care and health outcomes for women with cardiovascular disease remains elusive.

Community- and Patient-Partner Engagement in Women's Cardiovascular Disease Research: A Rapid Review of the Evidence.

The primary objective of this rapid review is to describe community-partner and patient-partner engagement in women's cardiovascular disease (CVD) research. Secondary objectives are to: (i) describe the phase of the research in which community and patient partners were engaged; (ii) define the level of engagement at each research phase; and (iii) make recommendations for future engagement of community and/or patient partners in women's CVD research. Rapid review guidelines recommended by the Cochrane Rapid Reviews Methods Group and Tricco et al.

"Her Heart Matters"-Making Visible the Cardiac Pain Experiences of Women with Physical Disabilities and Heart Disease: A Qualitative Study.

Background: Women with physical disabilities are faced with challenges in many aspects of life-education, work, income, relationships, as well as their general health. These women are at a greater risk of developing heart disease. This study aimed to explore the cardiac pain experiences of women with physical disabilities and heart disease within a Canadian healthcare context.

User-centered design features for digital health applications to support physical activity behaviors in solid organ transplant recipients: A qualitative study.

Introduction: Digital health tools may be effective in engaging solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients in physical activity (PA). This study examined the perspectives of SOT recipients regarding PA, and desired features for digital health tools.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were used to explore perspectives of SOT recipients about barriers and motivators to physical activity, and core features of a digital health tool to support PA.

The Canadian Women's Heart Health Alliance Atlas on the Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Management of Cardiovascular Disease in Women-Chapter 3: Patient Perspectives.

In recent years, public awareness campaigns have targeted knowledge gaps and inequities in care while focusing on the unique female experience and heightened cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk profile. Recognizing and understanding the sex and gender constructs, barriers, facilitators, and factors that affect access, treatment, and recovery after an acute cardiac event from the unique patient perspective is a key step in transforming clinical practice and care patterns. The aim of this atlas chapter is to provide a knowledge review and to identify gaps regarding the experience of living with CVD from the perspective of the female survivor.

Current Concepts in the Use of PLLA: Clinical Synergy Noted with Combined Use of Microfocused Ultrasound and Poly-L-Lactic Acid on the Face, Neck, and Décolletage.

Background: Aging of the face, neck, and décolletage is a multifactorial process involving epidermal photodamage and loss of soft tissue and bony volume. Multilevel rejuvenation of these areas can be obtained by enhancing volume restoration, neocollagenesis, and tissue contraction with combined efficacy of poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) and microfocused ultrasound (MFU, Ultherapy) treatments.

Methods: The authors reviewed the use of PLLA and MFUs as collaborative modalities to improve the appearance of the face, neck, and décolletage.

Multiple primary melanoma in the elderly.

Background: Few data exist regarding surveillance for multiple primary melanoma (MPM) in elderly patients or whether the incidence and risk factors are the same as for younger patients. Thus, we studied the frequency and characteristics of MPM in the elderly melanoma patients.

Methods: From our prospective melanoma registry, we studied 222 consecutive patients aged 65 years or older at their initial melanoma diagnosis.

Pregnancy and the risk of rheumatoid arthritis in a highly predisposed North American Native population.

Objective: To examine reproductive history and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) risk in a highly predisposed population of North American Natives (NAN) with unique fertility characteristics.

Methods: The effect of pregnancy on the risk of RA was examined by comparing women enrolled in 2 studies: a study of RA in NAN patients and their unaffected relatives; and NAN patients with RA and unrelated healthy NAN controls enrolled in a study of autoimmunity. All participants completed questionnaires detailing their reproductive history.

Oral health in a First Nations and a non-Aboriginal population in Manitoba.

Objectives: To analyze the prevalence of poor oral health and selected determinants in First Nations (FN) and Caucasian samples in Manitoba, Canada.

Study Design: Cross-sectional survey, nested in a cohort study.

Methods: FN and Caucasian participants completed a questionnaire on socio-demographic variables, oral health symptoms, and oral health-related behaviours as part of a broader cohort study comparing these ethnic groups for different chronic immune mediated diseases.

Familial clustering of the serum cytokine profile in the relatives of rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is prevalent in North American Native populations, with a high frequency of multicase families and seropositivity in first-degree relatives. This study was undertaken to determine whether the serum cytokine profile of first-degree relatives of North American Native patients with RA differed from that of individuals with no family history of autoimmunity and whether there was an association with RA autoantibodies.

Methods: North American Native patients with RA (n = 105), their first-degree relatives (n = 273), healthy North American Native controls (n = 200), and Caucasian controls (n = 150) were studied.

Immunogenetic risks of anti-cyclical citrullinated peptide antibodies in a North American Native population with rheumatoid arthritis and their first-degree relatives.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies in unaffected relatives of North American Native probands with rheumatoid arthritis (RA); and the associations of the shared epitope (SE) and HLA-DRB1*0901 with RA and anti-CCP antibodies.

Methods: The subjects were RA probands, affected relatives, unaffected first-degree (FDR) and more distant relatives, and unaffected controls from the same population. HLA-DRB1 typing was determined by DNA sequencing and anti-CCP antibodies were determined by ELISA.