Menopausal women face adverse changes in heart health: Study

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Women going through the menopause transition period are likely to experience changes that can be detrimental to their cardiovascular health, according to research on Tuesday.

Despite the myth that cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a "man's disease," it accounts for 40 per cent of all deaths in women, making it the leading cause of mortality for women.

Although women typically get CVD 10 years later than males, they are more at risk for developing heart disease following menopause.

"There is an increase in ‘bad' low-density type lipoprotein (LDL) particles and a decrease in ‘good' high-density lipoprotein particles (HDL) that takes place during and after the menopause transition," said study author Dr Stephanie Moreno, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, US.

"Taken together, these changes suggest that menopause is associated with a transition to a higher-risk lipoprotein profile that could be more likely to cause cardiovascular disease, such as coronary artery disease," she added.

The study analysed changes in lipoprotein particles during the menopause transition in 1,246 participants. They measured common lipoproteins associated with CVD, including atherogenic LDL-P and small dense LDL.

The researchers compared longitudinal changes in lipoprotein measures between pre-, peri-, and post-menopausal women and men as well using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology.

The results showed that all three female groups had an increase in LDL-P, with the greatest percent change between the peri and post groups.

Compared to men, whose percent change was 213 per cent, small-dense LDL had a higher percent change in the peri-group. Compared to both pre- and post-menopausal populations, this percent change is approximately 15 per cent higher.

"We found that menopause is associated with adverse changes in lipoprotein profiles, with the most pronounced changes found to be in increases in ‘bad' LDL-particles and subfractions observed for peri-menopausal women," Moreno said.

The findings may help explain the rise of heart disease in post-menopausal women and help determine if earlier interventions are warranted, said the team calling for more studies.

The findings will be presented in the forthcoming meeting of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2024 from August 30 to September 2 in the UK.

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