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A new study has suggested that the timing of menstrual changes could provide clues about a woman’s risk of developing heart disease.
According to the study that is already published in the medical journal for women’s health, Menopause and reported by Eurekalert, the length of a woman’s menstrual cycle can be a sign of serious cardiovascular condition.
The research studied cycle length changes over the menopause transition and found that women whose cycle increased in length two years before their final menstrual period had better measures of vascular health than those who had stable cycle lengths during this transition.
When combined with other menopause-related characteristics and health measures, changes in cycle length could help experts predict which patients may be at greater or lesser risk of cardiovascular disease and recommend preventive strategies, it said.
The lead researcher, an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health, Samar El Khoudary speaking on the purpose of the study said, “Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of women, and the risk significantly increases after midlife, which is why we think that menopause could contribute to this disease.”
The objective of the study was to know if changes in cycle length during the menopause transition could also predict future cardiovascular health.
To answer this question, the researchers analyzed data from 428 participants. It followed women aged 45 to 52 at the time of enrollment for up to 10 years or until postmenopausal.
It was reported that hee researchers collected menstrual cycle data throughout the menopause transition, and they assessed cardiovascular risk after menopause by measuring arterial stiffness or artery thickness.
After the period of observation, it was reported that the researchers found “three distinct trajectories in menstrual cycle length during the menopause transition.
“About 62% of participants had stable cycles that didn’t change appreciably before menopause, whereas about 16% and 22% experienced an early or late increase, defined as an increase in cycle length five years or two years before their final menstrual period, respectively.
“Compared to women with stable cycles, those in the late increase group had significantly more favourable measures of artery hardness and thickness, indicating a smaller risk of cardiovascular disease. Women in the early increase group had the poorest measures of artery health,” Eurekalert reports.
The lead researcher, El Khoudary speaking said, “cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of women, and the risk significantly increases after midlife, which is why we think that menopause could contribute to this disease
“Menopause is not just a click of a button. It’s a multistage transition where women experience many changes that could put them at higher risk for cardiovascular disease. Change in cycle length, which is linked to hormone levels, is a simple metric that might tell us who is more at risk.
“These findings are important because they show that we cannot treat women as one group: Women have different menstrual cycle trajectories over the menopause transition, and this trajectory seems to be a marker of vascular health.
“This information adds to the toolkit that we are developing for clinicians who care for women in midlife to assess cardiovascular disease risk and brings us closer to personalising prevention strategies.”
The researchers posited that menstrual cycle trajectories during menopause reflect hormone levels, which in turn contribute to cardiovascular health.
According to El Khoudary, it’s not clear why cardiovascular disease risk was higher in participants with stable cycles compared with the late increase group.