A new study has shown that women who enter menopause have an increased risk of developing cardiovascular problems, such as a heart attack or stroke, according to the website.Health“which deals with health news.
Research presented at the American College of Cardiology conference highlights the need to identify and better understand the early signs of cardiovascular problems in this group of women.
The study confirms the need to pay attention to heart health in women just as much as in men, as the focus is usually more on males, despite the fact that this type of disease is considered the main cause of death for both sexes in the United States and many countries of the world.
How does menopause affect heart health?
Health experts and doctors say that post-menopausal women are more susceptible to heart disease, because they have lower levels of the hormone estrogen, which keeps “bad” cholesterol under control and performs other functions that protect the heart.
Internal medicine specialist Ella Isaiah, who supervised the study, explained that the risk of women contracting heart disease after menstruation stops “is almost identical to the risk of men contracting these same diseases.”
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Isaiah noted that her team wanted to delve deeper into the heart health risks facing this group of women in particular. The researchers used data from more than 579 postmenopausal women who took statin medications to control their cholesterol.
The women had two coronary artery calcium (CAC) scans at least one year apart. Scans indicate a person’s risk of heart attack by measuring the buildup of plaque – cholesterol and other substances – in the heart’s arteries (the higher the score, the higher the risk).
To compare women’s risks of heart problems after menopause with men’s risks, the researchers also examined men with a similar profile in terms of race, age, use of statin medications, blood pressure, and diabetes status.
The researchers then divided the participants into 3 groups based on the results of the coronary artery calcium (CAC) test. The first group had test results from 1 to 99, the second from 100 to 399, and the third from 400 or higher.
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The team found that the scores of the second group for many participants were higher than the first, as the first and second CAC examination showed that the scores of women with a baseline of 1 to 99 increased by an average of eight points.
Women in the second group saw their average scores increase by about 31 points, with these increases being about double their male counterparts.
One weakness of the study, according to Isaiah, is that the researchers only analyzed data from women taking statins.
The fact that many participants continued to have high levels of calcium plaques despite taking the drug suggests that the risk may be greater among postmenopausal women who do not take statins, she added.
How do you maintain your heart health?
You should start protecting your heart before you reach the “age of hope,” according to Megan Kamath, MD, a cardiologist at UCLA.
“Women need to pay attention to their cardiovascular health, and this starts early with diet, exercise and heart-healthy lifestyle modifications,” Kamath told Health.
In the same context, cardiologist Petra Zubin Maslov said that these lifestyle changes include quitting smoking and managing stress through methods such as yoga and meditation.
It’s also important to consult your doctor regularly about your cholesterol, blood pressure, and general risk of heart disease.
If a woman begins to notice signs of heart disease, such as heaviness in the chest, heartburn, chronic fatigue, or pain in the neck, jaw, or back, she should consult a specialist doctor.
Because some symptoms overlap with other conditions, experts recommend visiting a cardiologist if the patient suffers from persistent health problems despite treatment.
2024-04-11 11:09:13
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