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El Khoudary SR, Nasr A. Cardiovascular Disease in Women: Does Menopause Matter? CURRENT OPINION IN ENDOCRINE AND METABOLIC RESEARCH 2022; 27:100419. [PMID: 37274015 PMCID: PMC10237361 DOI: 10.1016/j.coemr.2022.100419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
It is known that the menopause transition (MT) is a complex period during a woman's life, but there has been ongoing debate on whether the increase in cardiovascular disease (CVD) during midlife is due to chronological aging or ovarian aging. The purpose of this review is to summarize the recent findings on the role of ovarian aging versus chronological aging on cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes and its risk factors in women. Recent data from longitudinal studies have shown that menopause-related factors, such as earlier age at menopause and surgical menopause are associated with higher CVD outcomes. The MT is also associated with detrimental changes in vascular health as well as cardiometabolic risk factors including body composition, visceral fat accumulation, lipids/lipoproteins, blood pressure and the metabolic syndrome. The robust evidence from recent research indicating increases in CVD risk over the MT beyond aging call for immediate efforts to rise awareness among women and their health care providers of CVD risk acceleration accompanying the MT. Efforts should also be directed toward developing and testing novel preventive approaches that target women during this time period to counteract the expected increase in CVD risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samar R. El Khoudary
- Department of Epidemiology School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Alexis Nasr
- Department of Epidemiology School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
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Nappi RE, Chedraui P, Lambrinoudaki I, Simoncini T. Menopause: a cardiometabolic transition. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 2022; 10:442-456. [PMID: 35525259 DOI: 10.1016/s2213-8587(22)00076-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 33.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2022] [Revised: 02/08/2022] [Accepted: 02/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Menopause is often a turning point for women's health worldwide. Increasing knowledge from experimental data and clinical studies indicates that cardiometabolic changes can manifest at the menopausal transition, superimposing the effect of ageing onto the risk of cardiovascular disease. The menopausal transition is associated with an increase in fat mass (predominantly in the truncal region), an increase in insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia, and endothelial dysfunction. Exposure to endogenous oestrogen during the reproductive years provides women with protection against cardiovascular disease, which is lost around 10 years after the onset of menopause. In particular, women with vasomotor symptoms during menopause seem to have an unfavourable cardiometabolic profile. Early management of the traditional risk factors of cardiovascular disease (ie, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, dyslipidaemia, and smoking) is essential; however, it is important to recognise in the reproductive history the female-specific conditions (ie, gestational hypertension or diabetes, premature ovarian insufficiency, some gynaecological diseases such as functional hypothalamic amenorrhoea, and probably others) that could enhance the risk of cardiovascular disease during and after the menopausal transition. In this Review, the first of a Series of two papers, we provide an overview of the literature for understanding cardiometabolic changes and the management of women at midlife (40-65 years) who are at higher risk, focusing on the identification of factors that can predict the occurrence of cardiovascular disease. We also summarise evidence about preventive non-hormonal strategies in the context of cardiometabolic health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rossella E Nappi
- Research Center for Reproductive Medicine, Gynecological Endocrinology and Menopause, IRCCS San Matteo Foundation, Pavia, Italy; Department of Clinical, Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
| | - Peter Chedraui
- Instituto de Investigación e Innovación en Salud Integral and Laboratorio de Biomedicina, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Ecuador
| | - Irene Lambrinoudaki
- Menopause Unit, 2nd Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Tommaso Simoncini
- Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
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O’Kelly AC, Michos ED, Shufelt CL, Vermunt JV, Minissian MB, Quesada O, Smith GN, Rich-Edwards JW, Garovic VD, El Khoudary SR, Honigberg MC. Pregnancy and Reproductive Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease in Women. Circ Res 2022; 130:652-672. [PMID: 35175837 PMCID: PMC8870397 DOI: 10.1161/circresaha.121.319895] [Citation(s) in RCA: 113] [Impact Index Per Article: 56.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Beyond conventional risk factors for cardiovascular disease, women face an additional burden of sex-specific risk factors. Key stages of a woman's reproductive history may influence or reveal short- and long-term cardiometabolic and cardiovascular trajectories. Early and late menarche, polycystic ovary syndrome, infertility, adverse pregnancy outcomes (eg, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, gestational diabetes, preterm delivery, and intrauterine growth restriction), and absence of breastfeeding are all associated with increased future cardiovascular disease risk. The menopause transition additionally represents a period of accelerated cardiovascular disease risk, with timing (eg, premature menopause), mechanism, and symptoms of menopause, as well as treatment of menopause symptoms, each contributing to this risk. Differences in conventional cardiovascular disease risk factors appear to explain some, but not all, of the observed associations between reproductive history and later-life cardiovascular disease; further research is needed to elucidate hormonal effects and unique sex-specific disease mechanisms. A history of reproductive risk factors represents an opportunity for comprehensive risk factor screening, refinement of cardiovascular disease risk assessment, and implementation of primordial and primary prevention to optimize long-term cardiometabolic health in women.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna C. O’Kelly
- Cardiology Division, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Erin D. Michos
- Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD,Division of Cardiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
| | - Chrisandra L. Shufelt
- Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center, Smidt Heart Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Jane V. Vermunt
- Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
| | - Margo B. Minissian
- Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center, Smidt Heart Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA,Geri and Richard Brawerman Nursing Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles CA
| | - Odayme Quesada
- Women’s Heart Center, The Christ Hospital Heart and Vascular Institute, Cincinnati, OH,The Carl and Edyth Lindner Center for Research and Education, The Christ Hospital, Cincinnati, OH
| | - Graeme N. Smith
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - Janet W. Rich-Edwards
- Division of Women’s Health, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA,Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
| | - Vesna D. Garovic
- Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
| | - Samar R. El Khoudary
- Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Michael C. Honigberg
- Cardiology Division, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA,Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA,Corrigan Women’s Heart Health Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
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Flores VA, Manson JE. Patterns of menstrual cycle length over the menopause transition-a novel marker for cardiovascular risk? Menopause 2021; 29:1-2. [PMID: 34873104 PMCID: PMC8717838 DOI: 10.1097/gme.0000000000001912] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Valerie A. Flores
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Yale School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, Connecticut USA 06520
| | - JoAnn E. Manson
- Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 900 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts USA 02215
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