Kamis, 28 Juni 2012

Women who go through menopause before 46 twice as likely to have heart attack or stroke

Women who go through menopause before 46 twice as likely to have heart attack or stroke

  • The average age to go through the menopause is 51

By Claire Bates

PUBLISHED: 10:42 EST, 28 June 2012 | UPDATED: 10:53 EST, 28 June 2012

Women who go through menopause before the age of 46 are twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke as women who go through the change later in life, a study has found.

The findings from a diverse group of U.S. women support results of earlier studies that had only focused on white women.

Early menopause was found to double the risk of stroke and heart attack. Scientists said a genetic link between ovarian function and heart disease could be to blame

Early menopause was found to double the risk of stroke and heart attack. Scientists said a genetic link between ovarian function and heart disease could be to blame

Lead author Dr Melissa Wellons, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said women who had the menopause early should make extra efforts to reduce their risk.

'My advice to them would be to get your traditional risk factors checked and do the things that we know, based on evidence, can improve your risk of developing heart disease, like keep your cholesterol in check and keep your blood pressure in check,' she said.

Wellons and her colleagues collected health information through surveys of 2,509 women, including 331 Chinese, 641 black and 550 Hispanic women.

Close to 700 of them, or 28 per cent, had gone through menopause early - before age 46. The average age when women stop having periods is 51 in the U.S and 52 in the UK.

The younger group included women who went through menopause naturally or had a hysterectomy - surgery to remove the uterus - which can cause early menopause.

None of the women had cardiovascular disease at the beginning of the study. Researchers tracked them for an average of five years to see who ended up having a heart attack or stroke.

They found 23 of the women who had gone through menopause early, and 27 who hadn't, suffered a heart attack or cardiac arrest or died from heart disease, according to findings published in the journal Menopause.

That translates to 3.3 per cent of women in the early menopause group and 1.5 percent of the other group.

Similarly, 18 women - or 2.6 per cent - of the early menopause group had a stroke during the study, compared to 19 (one per cent) of women who hit menopause later.

It's not clear why early menopause might be linked to cardiovascular disease. Some scientists have theorised that estrogen could play a role as the hormone drops following the change. However, a Women's Health Initiative study on hormone replacement therapy was stopped earl y because women taking hormones after menopause were actually found to have a higher risk of heart disease and certain cancers.

'It could be a genetic association, (where) genes that are related to ovarian function may also be associated with cardiovascular disease, and those two things are related but not through a common causal pathway,' Dr Wellons added.

She said more research is needed before doctors can know how to intervene to try to reduce the higher heart disease risk among women with early menopause.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death among U.S. women. Combined with strokes, it is responsible for almost one in three deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Does this include those of us who started going through menopause years before 46, who have since turned 46, and are still going through it? I hope not.

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Is this another opportunity to peddle statins?

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Next DM news article: 'Everything gives you Cancer'. Cheery as ever DM, cheery as ever. Fear not though Menopausey DM readers, In this case the article says 1.5% get heart attacks and whatnot, so 15 women in every 1000, early menopause it becomes 30 in every 1000. Not Very Much multiplied by 2 is still not very much.

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another lovely news story...

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I don't look forward to middle age.

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NOW they tell me! Menopause at 39. Heart attack at 72. Well OK I had to wait awhile but I got it right in the end!

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Why do the DM keep coming up with these alarming stories, is it just to frighten the life out of people?

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Gee thanks DM...... I feel So much better now...... NOT!! I went through the menopause when I was 40, have got extremely high cholesterol thanks to my maternal side of the family and also have heart disease on my paternal side..... Shal I book my funeral now do you think????

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But you don't have to be 'left to get on with it'! Stop just accepting subpar health. With Bio Identical Hormone Repalcement it's all natural, helps with hot flashes, weight gain, natural metabolism booster, better sleep, less cravings, more sex, and better moods. What husband wouldn't want their wife on HRT the natural stuff...

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My gran told me to drink red wine and eat flax seeds, a natural remedy she used.

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