Menopause and Heart Disease

Many women think that heart disease is a man's disease. It isn't. Heart disease is the number one killer of women. In fact, after age 50, nearly half of all deaths in women are due to some form of cardiovascular disease. That's more than deaths from all cancers combined.

Once a woman reaches the age of 50, about the age of natural menopause, her risk for heart disease increases dramatically. In young women who have undergone early or surgical menopause, who do not take estrogen, their risk for heart disease is also higher. Women who have gone through menopause and also have other heart disease risk factors, such as the following, are at even greater risk. Other heart disease risk factors include:

• Diabetes
• Smoking
• High blood pressure
• High LDL (low density lipoproteins) or "bad" cholesterol
• Low HDL (high density lipoproteins) or "good" cholesterol
• Obesity
• Inactive lifestyle
• Family history of heart disease

How Is Heart Disease Associated With Menopause?

Heart disease becomes more of a risk for women after menopause.

How Can Menopausal Women Reduce Their Risk of Heart Disease?

A healthy lifestyle goes a long way in preventing heart disease. Incorporating the following suggestions into your everyday life may help you reduce your risk of heart disease.

• Avoid or quit smoking. Smokers have twice the risk of heart attack than nonsmokers. In addition to eliminating cigarettes, stay away from other peoples' smoke. Second-hand smoke also increases the risk of heart disease.
• Maintain a healthy body weight. The more you weigh, the harder your heart has to work to give your body nutrients. Research has shown that being overweight contributes to the onset of heart disease.
• Exercise for 30-40 minutes at least three to five times per week. The heart is like any other muscle in that it needs to be worked to keep it strong and healthy. Being active or exercising regularly (ideally, at least 30 minutes every day) helps improve how well the heart pumps blood through your body. Activity and exercise also help reduce many other risk factors. It helps lower high blood pressure and cholesterol, reduces stress, helps keep weight off, and improves blood glucose levels.
• Eat well. Follow a diet low in saturated fat; low in trans-fat (partially hydrogenated fats); and high in fiber, whole grains, legumes (such as beans and peas), fruits, vegetables, fish, folate-rich foods, and soy.
• Treat and control medical conditions. Diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure are known risk factors for heart disease.
• Take an aspirin every day, if approved by your doctor. Check with your doctor first; he or she will recommend the dose, if any, that is most appropriate for you.

Should I Consider Hormone Therapy to Reduce My Risk of Heart Disease?

For many years, preliminary research showed that estrogen, through hormone therapy (HT), could possibly reduce the risk of heart disease in women. Other, more recent studies of women with existing heart disease have not shown benefit after taking estrogen. In addition, the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), a 15-year government study of postmenopausal women taking HT, confirmed a modest increase in the risk of heart disease in the women taking combination HT (estrogen and progesterone). This increased risk was not shown in the women taking estrogen alone. As a result, it is no longer recommended that estrogen or combination HT be used to prevent heart disease.