Why Your Heart Needs Special Attention During Menopause.

Dear MHI reader, 

A lot is going on during menopause – hot flashes, mood swings, poor sleep – and then there’s the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. It can seem overwhelming.

But don’t worry – you can do plenty to keep your heart healthy.

How does menopause affect your heart?

Many people think of heart attacks as happening to men, but in fact, women are just as likely to suffer them. However, they usually occur about ten years later than in men because of the hormonal protection provided by oestrogen. So, let’s take a closer look at how the loss of ‘oestrogen protection’ affects the heart health of women during menopause.

1. Oestrogen deficiency and vascular changes

During the menopause, the production of sex hormones decreases, which also lowers the level of oestrogen. Since oestrogen dilates blood vessels and inhibits inflammation, they remain more elastic. With the drop in oestrogen levels, the vessels lose their flexibility, constrict more easily, and blood pressure rises.

2. Weight gain

Many women notice an increase in weight during menopause, in particular a shift in fat distribution towards more abdominal fat. Unfortunately, this so-called visceral fat is a pure hormone gland and releases pro-inflammatory substances, so-called adipokines, which promote high blood pressure and insulin resistance. This increases the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

3. Changes in cholesterol metabolism 

As oestrogen levels drop, your fat metabolism also changes. The problematic LDL cholesterol rises, while HDL cholesterol often decreases. This can cause more cholesterol to be deposited in the arterial walls, increasing the risk of atherosclerosis and plaque build-up.

Gender medicine – why research must take gender differences into account

The medical field of gender medicine was established in the 1990s to study gender differences in the development, diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

Unfortunately, women are still underrepresented in most studies, so diagnostic and treatment methods are often not optimally adapted to them. As a result, women with cardiovascular diseases are diagnosed later and are less likely to receive the right treatment. A large Swiss study involving 450,000 patients showed that women with cardiovascular diseases are less likely to receive intensive care than men – despite having the same or even more severe disease!

How these differences between men and women manifest themselves in the symptoms and how women in menopause can best prevent them will be the subject of the next newsletters in our three-part series.

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