MADRID, 27 One. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Complications of pregnancy and early menopause increase women’s future risk of heart disease. Cardiologists, gynecologists and endocrinologists recommend how to help middle-aged women prevent later heart problems in a consensus document of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) published this Tuesday in the ‘European Heart Journal’, the journal of the European Society of Cardiology.
“Physicians should intensify the detection of hypertension in middle-aged women,” the document states. Up to 50% of women develop high blood pressure before age 60, but symptoms, for example hot flashes and palpitations, are often attributed to menopause.
“High blood pressure is called hypertension in men, but in women it is often mislabelled as ‘stress’ or ‘menopausal symptoms,'” explains first author Professor Angela Maas, Director of the Health Program. Women’s Heart at Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands.
“We know that blood pressure is treated less in women compared to men, putting them at risk for atrial fibrillation, heart failure and stroke, which could have been prevented,” he recalls.
“A woman’s life provides clues that prevention needs to be started early,” Professor Maas adds. “We have to assess patients differently from men, and not just ask about high cholesterol. It will allow middle-aged women to be classified as high risk or lower risk of cardiovascular disease. “
Preeclampsia is linked to a four-fold increase in heart failure and hypertension and a doubling risk of stroke. Women who have early natural menopause (ie, non-surgical) before age 40 are also more likely to develop cardiovascular disease; each year is associated with a 3% increased risk.
Autoimmune inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus are more common in women than men and increase cardiovascular risk around menopause.
“There are several phases of life in which we can identify subgroups of women at high risk,” recalls Professor Maas. “High blood pressure during pregnancy is a warning sign that hypertension can develop when a woman enters menopause and is associated with dementia many decades later. If blood pressure is not addressed when women are in their 40s and 50s, they will have problems in their 70s, when hypertension is more difficult to treat. “
The document provides guidance on managing your heart health during menopause, after pregnancy complications, and during other conditions, such as breast cancer and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
Thus, the important role of a healthy lifestyle and diet is recognized, for example, for the optimal management of menopausal health and in women with PCOS, who are at high risk of high blood pressure during pregnancy and type 2 diabetes.
Although menopausal hormone therapy is indicated to relieve symptoms such as night sweats and hot flashes in women over 45 years of age, the authors recommend evaluating cardiovascular risk factors before starting treatment. Therapy is not recommended in women at high cardiovascular risk or after a stroke, heart attack, or blood clot.
The document provides advice for transgender women. “These women need hormone therapy for the rest of their lives and the risk of blood clots increases over time,” recalls Maas.
The document states that transgender women “should always be encouraged to reduce modifiable lifestyle risks” while acknowledging that “the psychosocial benefits of hormone therapy with improved body image can result in healthier lifestyle choices. “.
And he considers that collaboration between cardiologists, gynecologists and endocrinologists is necessary to provide the best care to patients. “Women can help their doctors prevent heart problems and make earlier diagnoses by mentioning issues such as complicated pregnancies and early menopause and by monitoring their own blood pressure,” he concludes.
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