Study Finds Cardiovascular Health Scores Decline During Perimenopause

A study published using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found that cardiovascular health scores declined as women moved through the menopause transition. Researchers examined records from more than 9,200 women ages 18 to 80 collected between 2007 and 2020.

The analysis used the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8 metric, which scores diet, physical activity, smoking, sleep, blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and body weight on a 100-point scale. 9.

Perimenopausal women were more than twice as likely to have a low overall score compared with premenopausal women. They were also 76 percent more likely to have poor cholesterol scores and 83 percent more likely to have low blood sugar scores. Diet scores were the lowest across all groups and continued to fall with age.

The study defined perimenopause as the period of hormonal changes that typically begins in the mid-40s and ends after 12 consecutive months without menstruation.

Recommendations from Researchers Lead author Dr.

” Senior author Dr. Garima Arora said women should treat the period as a “window of opportunity” to check blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar. The researchers plan to follow a separate group of women over several years to track hormone levels and cardiovascular outcomes.

They said earlier screening during perimenopause could lead to earlier diagnosis and intervention. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States. The study noted that one in three women die from cardiovascular disease.