Menopausal Women: Lower Heart Risk Than These Men?
Study found little difference between menopause types, but black women had less advantage than white
WEDNESDAY, July 1, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Menopause is commonly considered a risk factor for heart disease, as the protective effect of estrogen declines. However, in a new study, researchers found that postmenopausal women had a lower risk of dying from heart attack than did men of similar ages.
"Women have lower cardiovascular disease risk than men, even after menopause," said the study's lead researcher, Dr. Catherine Kim, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. "But the advantage is seen primarily in white women compared to white men; black women have less of an advantage compared to black men."
Although some research has suggested that natural menopause does not boost heart disease risk but surgically induced (after hysterectomy and ovary removal) menopause does, Kim did not find much difference in risk between menopause types.
Her long-term study found: White women who went through natural menopause had a 55 percent reduced risk of nonfatal heart attacks and other heart events compared to white men. White women who had surgically induced menopause had a 35 percent reduced risk. Black women who had natural menopause had a 31 percent reduced risk of nonfatal heart attacks compared to black men, while black women who had surgically induced menopause had a 19 percent reduced risk.
The study, published July 1 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, is believed to be the first to compare men and women and how menopause type affects heart disease risk, according to Kim.
Her team looked at more than 23,000 men and women, all older than 45, who were enrolled in a study between 2003 and 2007 and had no heart disease at the study start. The researchers followed them until the end of 2011.
Kim can't fully explain the findings on postmenopausal women. "It is unknown why their risk remains low,'' she said. "It is possible it is a residual effect of the estrogen, but estrogen therapy studies have shown no benefit for cardiovascular risk to date." Nor can she explain the racial differences, she added.