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“Until I had my heart attack, I never talked about, I never talked about heart disease. And when you look at the stats, and you look at the numbers? And you look at the amount of people that have it, that don’t know about it. …”

Female, age 64

Heart Health Education Resource Site

Cardiac Prodromal Symptoms {Early Warning Signs}

Early Cardiac-related warning signs, known as cardiac prodromal symptoms are experienced months, weeks or days before a heart attack. Up to 92% of women and men experience prodromal warning symptoms.  Early prodromal symptoms may include: unusual or increasing fatigue, dizziness, chest pain or discomfort, anxiety, shortness of breath, headaches, unusual located aches and pain, noticeable changes in your heart beat, hot and cold sensations, sleep disturbances, nausea, heartburn or indigestion, pins and needles, prickling or numbness and sweating.

In collaboration with individuals with heart disease, and community, academic, and scientific partners, the Heart Health Education Resource site was to designed to provide critical education to women and men, and clinicians with access to research, in the form of educational materials to be used and is housed on the Heart Innovation Research Program website.

The core content of this educational resource includes: clinical research, knowledge synthesis, and the development of a clinical screening tool, called the Cardiac Prodromal Symptoms-Screening Scale. This resource site provides current knowledge and information to address the educational gap, inform clinical practice, and provide much needed evidence-based information for women and men that can help guide their decision as to whether or not to seek medical advice.  It is a resource to help initiate meaningful conversations with your HCPs, family members and friends in order to catch heart disease early.

Healthcare Professional

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Women and Men

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Online Prodromal Symptom Screening Scale

Educational Resources

  • Women’s experiences of early cardiac prodromal warning signs.  “Dispelling the Differences in Cardiac Prodromal Symptoms between Women and Men- An Educational Strategy [Women’s Xchange Grant]

Educational information: Downloadable

Infographic of possible cardiac prodromal warning signs (based on current research) in various poster sizes for educational use and display

Infographic of information of the Why- what- and how to use the Cardiac Prodromal Symptoms Screening Scale.

Our Community Partners

Canadian Council of Cardiac Nurses (CCCN)  www.cccn.ca

Cardiac Health Foundation of Canada (CCFC) www.cardiachealth.ca

Heart Niagara www.heartniagara.com

Niagara Health www.niagarahealth.on.ca