A research study revealed that the years leading up to menopause are a period when women have increased risks of heart disease, confirming that monitoring women’s health and lifestyle, while integrating early intervention strategies for good cardiovascular health is important, especially during middle age and during menopause to help In preventing heart disease, according to a new scientific statement issued by the American Heart Association, the study has been published titled “Menopause Transmission and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Implications for Timing of Early Prevention in its main journal, Circulation.”.
“Over the past 20 years, our knowledge of how menopause transmission contributes to cardiovascular disease has significantly evolved,” said Samar Al-Khudhry, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology at the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Petersberg and the Institute for Clinical and Translational Sciences. Continuing to point out that the transition in menopause is a time of change in cardiovascular health, and most importantly, the latest American Heart Association guidelines for women did not include the data available now. She added that menopause is a time when there is an increased risk to a woman’s heart health, and therefore there An urgent need to discuss the implications of this accumulated literature on this topic.
For many women, the menopause transition begins the change from the reproductive to the non-reproductive stage of life characterized by changes in the menstrual cycle. When they are in their late forties to mid-fifties, before this transition, women produce estrogen, the female sex hormone, which It may also have cardioprotective effects when women go through the natural transition of menopause and their ovaries stop producing the same amount of estrogen, and this can also happen through surgical menopause (partial or complete hysterectomy, which involves removing one or both ovaries. Significant changes occur in a woman’s cardiovascular health, leading to a higher risk of heart disease, during menopause..
Because the increase in heart disease risk during menopause is associated with decreased production of the hormone estrogen, health care professionals and scientists have studied whether hormone therapy may help reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, and there is research indicating the potential cardiovascular benefits for certain groups. Of hormone therapy when it begins in early menopause but not late, and more research is needed to evaluate the role of other hormonal therapies, and how long these interventions affect heart health and metabolism..
In addition, some studies indicate that the benefits of hormonal therapy, including a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes and protection against bone loss, appear to outweigh the risks for most women in early menopause, and current recommendations from leading professional medical societies support the use of Hormone therapy for women who have recently started menopause, with appropriate indications.
“This scientific statement aims to raise awareness among both health care workers and women about the major changes in cardiovascular health associated with middle age and menopause, and to indicate the importance of adopting prevention strategies early during this stage,” Al-Khidary said.
Key points in the statement include:
Some common symptoms associated with menopause are associated with cardiovascular disease, hot flashes and night sweats are associated with levels of cardiovascular disease risk factors, depression and sleep disturbances, which in some studies are associated with an increased risk of heart disease, are also common among women during this time..
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