Younger women who are going through menopause may have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease, according to a study presented at the annual Endocrine Society meeting held in San Diego.
For this study, researchers enrolled a total of 693 women aged 45 to 84 who already had begun experiencing menopause. Approximately 28 percent of the participants reported that they began the condition before the age of 46, which is defined as early menopause.
During a series of follow-ups, investigators monitored patients who had suffered from different forms of heart complications, including heart attacks, strokes, chest pain or cardiovascular-related death.
The results of the study found that women aged 55 years and older didnt experience any of the health problems, but participants who had experienced early menopause were more than twice as likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease.
“It is important for women to know that early menopause is a potential risk factor for cardiovascular diseasethe number one killer of American women,” said Melissa Wellons, a fellow at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB). She added that “they can then work harder to improve their modifiable risk factors, such as high cholesterol and blood pressure, by exercising and following a healthy diet.”
More than one out of every three women in the United States have suffered from some form of cardiovascular disease, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).