Women’s Brain Health Day
On December 2nd, thousands of people around the world will flex their brains and join an interactive online fundraising event to raise awareness about women’s brain health and the importance of sex and gender in brain research.
December 2nd marks the second annual Women’s Brain Health Day, which was officially recognized by the Government of Canada last year. In honour of this day, the Toronto sign will be lit up in purple and symbolic of Women’s Brain Health Initiative.
Women’s Brain Health Initiative (WBHI) was instrumental in establishing Women’s Brain Health Day on the national health calendar. To commemorate the day and to raise funds for more research that better meets the needs of women, WBHI has announced this year’s Stand Ahead® Challenge, and is encouraging people to join in by posting a short video on social media on December 2nd. Participants will film themselves doing the memory challenge, trying to recall the numbers on 7 playing cards and posting it with the hashtag #StandAhead. With the support of Brain Canada, in partnership with the government of Canada, through Health Canada, last year’s headstand challenge raised half a million dollars in new funding for women’s brain health research.
Once again, Brain Canada, through its partnership with Health Canada, is matching the first $250,000 raised for women’s brain health research.
“We are proud to commit matching funds for the 2020 Stand Ahead Challenge,” notes Brain Canada President and CEO Viviane Poupon. “This initiative enables us to expand our support of women’s brain health research. Research benefits our society when it fully reflects who we are, and to achieve that we must consider diversity in all its forms – including a focus on sex and gender.”
To mark the day this year, WBHI will also be hosting a virtual fundraising event, featuring special guests and musical performances. You can Stand Ahead® and donate for women’s brain health from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. (EST) online on Wednesday, December 2nd.
Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2020
Time: 8pm-10pm (approx) (EST)
Registration: https://womensbrains.me/wbhday
Special Guests: Chantal Kreviazuk, Amy Sky, Sean Jones, Beverley Mahood, Katie Couric, Dr. Ruth (Westheimer), Peter Gallagher, Marcia Gay Harden, and many more.
Women’s Brain Health Day shines a spotlight on the fact that many serious brain health conditions, such as dementia, anxiety, and depression, occur more frequently in women than in men. In fact:
- Almost 70% of those with Alzheimer’s disease are women
- Women suffer from depression, stress, and anxiety twice as much as men
- Women take longer to recover from concussions and have more severe symptoms
- Four times as many women have multiple sclerosis as men, and more and more women are developing it
- More women die of stroke and have worse outcomes as they recover
Despite these alarming statistics, the vast majority of medical research into these disorders focuses on men. WBHI is a national charity that seeks to correct the imbalance by funding cutting-edge research into the differences between female and male brains, as well as innovative education programs.
“Science is only beginning to scratch the surface of the complexity of the brain, and one of the biggest questions is why women are so much more likely to be affected by brain-aging conditions than men,” said WBHI Founder and CEO Lynn Posluns. “The Stand Ahead® Challenge highlights a serious health issue affecting women and raises funds to continue this important and necessary research.”
For more information about the challenge and how to donate:
http://standahead.org
Learn more about WBHI, its research programs and brain health:
https://womensbrainhealth.org
SOURCE Women’s Brain Health Initiative (WBHI)
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via newswire
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