Cheryl understands firsthand what it is like to experience heart disease and stroke. That’s why she wants to help other women advocate for their own health to ensure they get the proper diagnosis, care and support they need.

Unknowingly, by the time Cheryl was 37, she had already experienced two small strokes. The first time, she temporarily lost the use of her right side, and the doctors told her she was experiencing the effects of a migraine. After the second, she left the hospital with a bit of memory loss and weakness on her left side, but the doctors provided her with no clarity of what had happened or why. A neurologist later confirmed that she had a small stroke. 

11 years later, Cheryl woke up with a sore shoulder, but didn’t think much of it, so she went to work. She felt worse the next day and that night, she collapsed in the bathroom of the home she shared with her parents.

Doctors determined that Cheryl had a heart attack and inserted two stents to open the blocked blood vessels. The heart attack left Cheryl with 30% damage to her heart muscle and later, she developed atrial fibrillation – a type of irregular heart rhythm that increases the risk of stroke. 

Today, Cheryl is doing well and wants to share her story to raise awareness. 

“Early in my journey, I felt lost in the healthcare system and did not understand what was happening to me,” says Cheryl. “Now, I feel well taken care of and I want to share my story in hopes that other women will advocate for themselves so they can get the proper care they need.” 

A professor of pharmacology and geriatric medicine at Dalhousie University, Dr. Howlett is investigating links between frailty and heart failure to help people continue living full, active lives as they age.

Frailty and heart failure

Frailty is what happens when multiple health issues layer on top of one another, leaving someone depleted and vulnerable. Dr. Howlett wanted to understand how frailty makes it more likely for individuals to develop heart failure – a debilitating condition in which the heart does not pump blood properly. 

Early in her career, Dr. Howlett discovered that aging had some effects on heart function – ones that often differ in males and females. To better understand these effects, she turned to a tool that measures frailty. 

When Dr. Howlett adapted this frailty index to use with her lab mice, she discovered that the mice with the worst functioning hearts and cells were the ones with the highest frailty scores. Starting at the subcellular level, the damage to the heart accumulates and can eventually lead to conditions such as chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation can then cause heart failure with preserved ejection fraction – a condition that is very common in women and aging people. 

Longevity and prevention

Today, Dr. Howlett is working on solutions to reduce frailty, improve heart function and save more lives. 

“My goal is to promote healthy aging and to help more people spend their older age in relatively good health, so they can spend more time with their loved ones and enjoy what they love to do,” says Dr. Howlett.