Can a heart attack or stroke lead to early menopause?

New research has shown that women who suffer a heart attack, a stroke or other type of cardiovascular event before the age of 35 years run two times more risk of becoming premature menopausal, which could create its own health risks.

Menopause is the process by which a woman definitely stops having her menstrual cycles. In many women, it occurs around the age of 51.

Previous studies have shown a link between early menopausal women and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. But a group of Australian researchers has sought to find out if the opposite is true: Can a stroke, heart attack or other cardiovascular event in young women contribute to early menopause?

In a new study presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference in Honolulu next week, scientists presented data on 177,131 women gathered from nine studies. Women were clbadified according to the age at which they started menopause, ranking all people who started before the age of 45 as "prematurely".

They also examined self-reported cardiovascular events, such as heart attack, angina pectoris, and stroke.

The study found that women who had a cardiovascular event before the age of 35 were twice as likely to be menopausal at age 45. Women who had an event after age 40 were more likely to have "normal" menopause at age 51.

The findings should send a strong message to doctors of young women with heart disease, said the study's lead author, Dongshan Zhu, PhD candidate at the University of Queensland Australia.

"These women should be informed by their doctors of their future high chances of early menopause because early menopause is badociated with a higher risk of death, type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis," he said. declared.

The findings illustrate the close connection that exists between female hormone levels and overall health, especially heart disease, said Dr. Thomas Price, reproductive endocrinologist and fertility specialist at the University of Toronto. Duke University, North Carolina.

A lower estrogen level is badociated with a higher risk of heart disease for various reasons, including the positive effect of the hormone on the flexibility of the walls of blood vessels and arteries, a- he declared.

Price, who was not badociated with the study, said that menopause is usually preceded by a gradual decline in hormones over several years.

"It's not like your hormones are perfectly normal and all of a sudden, poof, they're gone, and you stop having your period, it's a gradual thing." , did he declare. "So, the question is whether there is a cardiovascular event that could cause an early menopause – or is it more likely that early menopause is badociated with lower estrogen levels, which predisposes a person at cardiovascular events? "

Zhu explained that, as most women in the study were white, further research is needed to determine if the findings are valid in other races and ethnic groups.

Additional studies could also examine whether genetic factors link early menopause to the onset of cardiovascular disease, he said, or whether environmental factors such as smoking also play a role.

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