Menopause, 'Good' Cholesterol and Heart Protection By Steven Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Oct. 16, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- HDL cholesterol is commonly called the "good" cholesterol, but new research suggests that it could be harmful to women going through menopause.

The new study finds that rather than helping to inhibit the formation of dangerous plaque in the arteries, HDL cholesterol may increase its buildup during menopause. This process is known as hardening of the arteries, or atherosclerosis, and can lead to heart trouble.

"This was surprising," said lead researcher Samar El Khoudary, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh.

"We know that the good cholesterol is supposed to protect women," she said. And, before menopause, good cholesterol does help protect against heart disease, El Khoudary said.

But during menopause, HDL cholesterol seems to add to the plaque buildup, she explained. "This was independent of other factors such as body weight and levels of bad cholesterol," El Khoudary said.

The results of the study were presented earlier this month at the North American Menopause Society annual meeting in Las Vegas. Research presented at meetings is considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

For the study, El Khoudary and colleagues followed 225 women in their middle and late 40s for up to nine years. During that time, the women had the plaque in their arteries measured five times. All of the women were free of heart disease at the start of the study.

The researchers found that as the women went through menopause, increasing levels of good cholesterol were linked with greater plaque buildup. The findings suggest that the nature of HDL cholesterol may alter during menopause, making it ineffective in preventing plaque buildup, El Khoudary said.

It's not clear why good cholesterol may turn bad, she said. "There are many biological changes that happen to women during the menopausal transition," El Khoudary said.

Among these changes is the addition of fat to the abdomen and around the heart, she said. "This could put women in a state of chronic inflammation that could change the good cholesterol," El Khoudary suggested.