Menopause and heart disease

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By Caralee Adams

Menopause is a gradual process that happens when a woman’s ovaries make less estrogen and progesterone and her lifetime supply of eggs is depleted. Eventually, she stops having periods and her fertility ends. A woman is considered to have reached menopause when she hasn’t menstruated for 12 months. Natural menopause typically occurs between ages 41–59. The average age among American women is 51.

Why does the risk of cardiovascular disease increase after menopause?
It’s clear that once menopause occurs, women’s risk of cardiovascular disease goes up. But it is unclear whether that risk is triggered solely by a change in hormones.

With the loss of estrogen, the lining of the arteries may not function as well and cholesterol levels may change (the “good” HDL cholesterol goes down a bit and the “bad” LDL cholesterol goes up), says Sharonne Hayes, director of the Women’s Heart Clinic at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Estrogen is probably what causes women to develop heart disease about 10 years later, on average, than men.

However, there isn’t an abrupt rise in heart risk when menopause occurs, and experts debate whether the risk is entirely associated with natural menopause, Hayes adds. Age and lifestyle factors such as decreased physical activity may contribute to the risk.