When Kaitlyn Watson listened to Canadian women describe their experiences seeking treatment for high blood pressure, a troubling pattern emerged: physician dismissal. Over and over, the women explained how they had to bring evidence—home blood pressure readings, symptom diaries, research—to convince their doctors that their hypertension was real and not simply "white coat hypertension" or anxiety. Watson, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Alberta, conducted interviews with 12 female patients across Canada between February and June 2023 as part of research published in CJC Open, and what she discovered demands urgent attention from the healthcare system.
The stakes are substantial. High blood pressure—defined as consistent readings at or above 130/80 mmHg—is a known precursor to heart disease and carries a heightened risk for women to develop dementia. Yet despite understanding their condition and actively managing it through diet modification, stress management, home monitoring, and prescribed medications, the women in Watson's study faced ageism and accusations of nonadherence from their physicians. The barriers weren't rooted in ignorance on the patients' part; they were rooted in how they were being heard—or not heard—by the doctors treating them.
The numbers underscore the problem's scale. According to the latest Canadian Health Measures Survey, only 50 percent of women over 40 with hypertension have their condition controlled. Women under 40 and over 60 are more likely than men to go untreated for the same condition. And even when taking antihypertensive medications, Canadian women consistently maintain higher blood pressure than men do. These disparities don't emerge by accident; they reflect a systemic gap in how women's cardiovascular health is recognized and prioritized.
Watson is clear about what needs to change. "I want women to know they can be their own advocate," she says. "No one's going to care about their health more than them. So they have to make sure that they do speak up and that they are listened to in those situations." Her words carry the weight of something both hopeful and troubling—a reminder that patients must become their own advocates while highlighting the structural failure that makes advocacy necessary in the first place.
The good news is that momentum is building. Watson emphasizes that hypertension carries no shame; genetics and other risk factors mean diagnosis is not a personal failing. She points to quality resources now available to women, including Hypertension Canada, the Canadian Women's Heart Health Alliance, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. More importantly, Watson and her research team are designing a comprehensive treatment approach called "Her Heart, Our Priority" specifically tailored to address the unique needs and barriers women face.
Understanding these barriers is only the first step. The real work lies ahead—in training physicians to listen without dismissing, in designing systems that take women's self-advocacy seriously from the start, and in recognizing that cardiovascular health is fundamentally a women's health issue deserving its own urgent attention. Until then, women will continue to do what they've always done: speak up louder, bring more proof, and fight for the care they deserve.