Hormone Changes During Menopause Increase Risk Of Heart Disease And Stroke

When women hear the word menopause, they often think about hot flashes, hormone shifts and mood swings. But what about heart disease? Studies show a woman's risk of heart disease intensifies drastically around the time of natural menopause, which for most women is around the age of 50. This news may come as a surprise, but experts explain that understanding risk factors is an important first step, and reassure women that there are ways to lower your risk.

"Many women younger than 50 have not yet gone through menopause and still have high levels of the female hormone estrogen in their blood, which is thought to help protect the heart. After menopause, however, the levels of estrogen in a woman's body drop significantly and can contribute to the higher risks of cardiovascular disease," explains Vera Rigolin,MD, associate director of the Center for Women's Cardiovascular Health in the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute of Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Weight gain is also a factor that may play a role in postmenopausal risk of heart disease. Maintaining a healthy weight often becomes difficult after your body experiences a change in hormone levels. Extra mass can take a toll on the body causing physical inactivity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol, all risk factors that can lead to heart attack and stroke.

Detecting heart disease in women can be difficult. Many women are unaware that symptoms of the disease may differ from those of men. Although women often experience chest discomfort when presenting with a heart attack, they commonly have other, more subtle symptoms, including fatigue, nausea, shortness of breath, jaw pain and general discomfort in the chest and abdominal area.

"In some women, plaque can build in the smallest blood vessels called the microvascular circulation. These blockages do not show up in an angiogram," says Rigolin. "In these cases, we often use Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) with medication to visualize blood flow within the small blood vessels when other standard tests do not provide us answers."

Women, especially those who are menopausal can reduce the risk of heart disease by adopting a healthy lifestyle.

"If you are a smoker, quit immediately and avoid second hand smoke. Eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and exercise at least three times per week to maintain a healthy body weight," says Rigolin.

Rigolin also recommends visiting your health care provider at least once per year to have your blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels checked.

TAG : cardiovascular disease risks , high blood pressure risks , heart failure risks , hypertension risks , heart disease risk , menopausal hormone therapy pubmed , menopausal hormone therapy cohort study , progesterone therapy menopause , menopause estrogen progesterone

Rewrite From : medicalnewstoday.com

Short-Term Heart Disease Risks Of Combination Menopausal Hormone Therapy

New analyses from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) make firm that combination hormone therapy increases the risk of heart disease in healthy postmenopausal women. Researchers appear a trend toward an increased risk of heart disease while the initial two years of hormone therapy among women who began therapy within 10 years of menopause, and a more scarred elevation of risk among women who began hormone therapy more than 10 years after menopause. Analyses predict that overall a woman's risk of heart disease more than doubles within the initial two years of taking combination HT.

"Today, most women who take hormone therapy for menopausal symptoms begin therapy shortly after menopause. Based on today's report, even these women appear to be at increased risk of heart disease for several years after starting cartel hormone therapy," noted Susan B. Shurin, M.D., NHLBI acting director. "It is clearer than ever that women who are considering postmenopausal hormone therapy for menopausal symptoms should analyze their risk of heart disease and other risks - such as breast cancer, stroke, and unsafe blood clots - with their doctors before starting therapy."

Jacques E. Rossouw, M.D., chief of the NHLBI Women's Health Initiative Branch and a coauthor of the paper, added, "Although the number of recently menopausal women who would be expected to suffer a heart attack during the first years of joining hormone therapy is small, the risk is likely to be real. Our findings continue to carry FDA recommendations that postmenopausal hormone therapy should not be used for the stoppage of heart disease."

Combination hormone therapy includes progestin in order with estrogen. Adding progestin is known to prevent endometrial cancer in women with a uterus. Today's findings do not apply to women who have had a hysterectomy and take estrogen-only hormone therapy. Similar analyses on the results of the clinical trial of estrogen only therapy are planned.

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and the NHLBI reanalyzed data from the landmark WHI clinical trial of the effects of combination hormone therapy in 16,608 postmenopausal women with an intact uterus, ages 50 to 79 years (average age of 63) at enrollment.

In the new analyses, the researchers compared the effects of hormone therapy on heart disease risk among women who began hormone therapy within 10 years of menopause and women who began therapy more than 10 years after menopause. The researchers used models that adjusted for adherence, or the actual amount of medication that participants took during the reading. They also studied the effects of hormone therapy on heart disease over time (up to eight years). In addition, they compared the findings with related analyses of 34,575 women in the Nurses Health Study, an observational consider with an average follow-up of 9.3 years. The researchers rumour related effects of hormone therapy from both studies.

In the WHI clinical trial of estrogen-plus-progestin, 8,506 participants were randomly assigned to receive a bloc of estrogen (0.625 milligrams of conjugated equine estrogens per day) plus progestin (2.5 mg of medroxyprogesterone acetate), and 8,102 women were given placebo (inactive pill). The education was stopped in 2002 after an average of 5.6 years of treatment due to an expand in breast cancer in the women on hormone therapy. Compared to women on placebo, women on combine hormone therapy were also at increased risk of stroke, perilous blood clots, and heart disease, while their risk of colorectal cancer and hip fractures was lower.

Overall, among the 8,506 women assigned to bloc hormone therapy during the study, there were 188 cases of coronary heart disease (80 in the first two years), compared to 147 heart disease cases (51 in the first two years) among the 8,102 women on placebo. When adjusted for adherence, the analysis shows that women on conspiracy hormone therapy were about 2.4 times more likely to develop heart disease in the first two years. At eight years, the women on coalition hormone therapy were 69 percent more likely to develop heart disease.

The new analyses also showed:

 Women who were within 10 years of menopause had a trend toward an increased risk of heart disease, with a 29 percent higher risk at two years from the start of hormone therapy. Although the increased risk of heart disease was not statistically significant, this finding is compatible with a related analysis of data from the larger Nurses Health Study.

 Women who started combination hormone therapy less than 10 years after menopause remained at increased risk of heart disease on average for about six years, after which those in the treatment group appeared to have a lower risk of heart disease compared to related women who were not on combine hormone therapy. In the nurses study, the initially increased risk on mixture hormone therapy changed toward lower risk of heart disease after about three years.

 In contrast, women who started hormone therapy 10 years or more after menopause were nearly 3 times more likely to develop heart disease within the first two years of treatment compared to women on placebo. These women continued to be at increased risk of heart disease throughout the 8 years of follow-up.

It is not explicit why the heart disease risk appears to be higher in women who start compound hormone therapy a decennary after menopause than in women who begin combination hormone therapy within 10 years after menopause. According to Sengwee Toh, Sc.D., lead author of the paper and now an instructor in the Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School, "This examine suggests that the risk of heart disease may depend on when women start their union hormone therapy and how long they are on this treatment. Future investigations should consider both of these aspects."

The WHI is a crucial 15-year investigation program designed to address the most regular causes of death, disability, and shabby quality of life in postmenopausal women: cardiovascular disease, cancer, and osteoporosis. The principal findings from the two WHI hormone therapy trials, which studied 27,347 postmenopausal women on estrogen plus progestin, estrogen-alone, or placebo, establish that the overall risks of long-term use of hormone therapy outweigh the benefits. Both of these trials were stopped early because of increased health risks and failure to prevent heart disease, a key question of the studies.

The NHLBI collaborates on the WHI with the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, the National Institute on Aging, and the Office of Research on Women's Health, all parts of the NIH. Wyeth-Ayerst Research provided the medication and placebo for the hormone inspection.

TAG : cardiovascular disease risks , high blood pressure risks , heart failure risks , hypertension risks , heart disease risk , menopausal hormone therapy pubmed , menopausal hormone therapy cohort study , progesterone therapy menopause , menopause estrogen progesterone , facts about menopausal hormone therapy , hormone replacement therapy , menopause hormone therapy after menopause

Rewrite From : .medicalnewstoday.com

Calcium Effective Against Bone Loss In Postmenopausal Women

With Osteoporosis  an increasing concern among women of all ages, a up-to-date statement in the medical periodical Osteoporosis International  found that women taking the AAACa (AdvaCAL®) calcium supplements had the highest bone density enlarge among 32 distinct calcium studies conducted between 1977 and 2008. The 32 studies involved 3,169 postmenopausal women, 79 skeletal measures and 7 separate types of calcium, including dairy.

The repute entitled "The Effect of Calcium Supplementation on Bone Loss in 32 Controlled Trials in Postmenopausal Women" was authored by calcium researcher Christopher Nordin, M.D. of Australia. Nordin concluded that calcium intake obviated bone loss in postmenopausal women for at least four years. Results from the 32 studies showed a wide range of bone density changes from taking unusual types of calcium. Most changes were negative, meaning many women taking calcium still lost bone mass each year. However, AdvaCAL calcium users averaged a 1.5% bone density expand per year, the highest extend among all 79 skeletal measures. Research details are available at http://www.stoposteo.com.

These results dovetail with other published calcium research. A 2007 essay in the newspaper The Lancet showed that AdvaCAL produced the most favorable change to fracture-risk among 17 different calcium studies between 1992 and 2006. The 17 fracture studies complex men and women aged 50+, taking 6 different calciums either alone or with vitamin D.

ABOUT AdvaCAL

AdvaCAL is natural ionic calcium from Japan. Oyster shells are smelted at inebriated temperatures, creating a bioavailable calcium ash. Smelting also removes lead and other impurities. Finally, the calcium is blended with HAI, an amino acid complicated from seaweed. HAI has been scientifically shown to boost calcium absorption. Both the calcium and HAI in AdvaCAL have been awarded patents.

"We are pleased but not shocked by AdvaCAL's top ranking in both reports" comments Andrew Lane, president of LaneLabs, the US supplier of AdvaCAL. "The FDA recommends adequate calcium intake with vitamin D, along with physical activity to degrade the risk of osteoporosis in later life. These two reports highlight some differences among calcium supplements. AdvaCAL is a unique Osteoporosis fighter."

Rewrite From : .medicalnewstoday.com , mages.medicinenet.com

TAG : screening for osteoporosis in postmenopausal women , post menopausal , osteoporosis , premenopausal women , calcium supplementation bone loss , postmenopausal women , Bone Loss In Postmenopausal Women

Bone Loss In Postmenopausal Women

At an international consensus development conference, osteoporosis was defined as "a systemic skeletal disease characterized by low bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration of bone tissue, leading to enhanced bone fragility and a consequent increase in fracture risk." In 1994, a World Health Organization (WHO) working group proposed that, in epidemiologic studies, osteoporosis could be determined when bone density at the hip, spine, or forearm is 2.5 standard deviations or more below the mean for healthy, young, adult women (a value defined as the T-score), or when a history of a fracture is present in the absence of trauma. The group also proposed that osteopenia be determined when the bone density was 1.0 to 2.5 standard deviations below the mean for young, healthy women.

According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), an estimated 14 million American women over age 50 years are affected by low bone density at the hip, and 5 million more have bone density that measures 2.5 standard deviations or more below the mean at the hip. The prevalence of osteoporosis in Mexican-American women is similar to that in white women, while rates in black women are approximately half that of the first two groups. The prevalence of osteoporosis increases with age for all sites, and by the WHO definition up to 70 percent of women over age 80 years have osteoporosis.

Furthermore, age is an important factor in the relationship between bone density and the absolute risk of fracture. An increase in age of 13 years increases the risk of hip fracture by the same amount as a decrease in bone density of one standard deviation. Older women have a much higher fracture rate than younger women who have the same bone density, because of increasing risk from other factors, such as a change in bone quality and the tendency to fall.

Women with osteoporosis are more likely to experience fractures. Demographic trends for hip fracture parallel those for osteoporosis. Hip-fracture incidence in white women rises from 50 per 100,000 at age 50 years to 237 per 100,000 at age 65 years. White women are generally two to three times more likely than nonwhite women to suffer a hip fracture. Hip fractures are associated with high rates of mortality and loss of independence. Wrist fracture incidence tends to increase at earlier ages than does that of hip fractures.

Vertebral fractures have also been associated with significant morbidity. Sixteen percent of postmenopausal women have osteoporosis of the lumbar spine; furthermore, five percent of 50-year-old white women and 25 percent of 80-year-old women have had at least one vertebral fracture. Vertebral fractures can cause severe pain and are associated with more than five million days of restricted activity in those age 45 years or older.

The disease burden of osteoporosis extends beyond consequences of low bone density and fractures. For example, the act of screening, diagnosis, and subsequent treatment can also affect the quality of life. Fear of fracture itself can reduce the quality of life in women who have been diagnosed as having osteoporosis.

In 1995, the total direct medical expenditure in the United States for the treatment of osteoporotic fractures in adults older than 45 years was estimated at $13.8 billion. The majority of this total ($8.6 billion) was spent for inpatient care. Hip fracture alone accounted for $8.7 billion (63 percent) of osteoporosis-related costs, while fractures at sites other than the hip accounted for approximately 37 percent of the total expenditure (about $5.1 billion). In addition to these costs is the cost of lost productivity for women with fractures, or for their family or other caregivers. As the median age of the U.S. population increases, the costs associated with osteoporotic fractures are also likely to increase.

You May be Love These Topics.

- Home relief For Postmenopausal Ovarian Cyst
- The Significance of Bleeding after the Menopause
- Calcium Effective Against Bone Loss In Postmenopausal Women

Rewrite From : images.medicinenet.com , ahrq.gov

Little Effect Of Soy Isoflavones On Bone Loss In Postmenopausal Women

A prior six-month study by Iowa State University researchers had indicated that consuming modest amounts of soy protein, rich in isoflavones, lessened lumbar spine bone loss in midlife, perimenopausal women. But now an outstretched three-year study by some of those same researchers does not show a bone-sparing effect in postmenopausal women who ingested soy isoflavone tablets, except for a modest effect at the femoral (hip) neck among those who took the highest dosage.

The multi-center clinical trial of 224 postmenopausal women -- led by D. Lee Alekel, professor of nutrition and interim connect director of the Nutrition and Wellness Research Center (NWRC) at Iowa State, and supported by the National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, one of the research institutes of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- was the longest ever conducted on the effects of soy isoflavones on bone mineral density (BMD). It compared the effects of either ingesting daily 80-mg daily or 120-mg soy isoflavone tablets, compared to placebo tablets on BMD and other health outcomes.

Iowa State NWRC researchers collaborated with research physiologist Marta D. Van Loan and her colleagues at the USDA Agricultural Research Service's Western Human Nutrition Research Center, located at the University of California, Davis. The primary results of their study were published in the January issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

New study expands upon earlier research

"Our six-month preliminary study, published in 2000, indicated that soy protein, rich in isoflavones, exerted the greatest impact in slowing the loss of bone mineral density in the lumbar spine," Alekel said. "But we believed that we needed to duplicate these results in a study with a greater sample size and longer duration, which is what we did with this three-year intervention.

"In this longer study, we had enough power to detect change," she continued. "We monitored adverse events, had excellent compliancy throughout, and accounted for potential confounding factors."

NWRC research staff members Laura Hanson, Jeanne Stewart and Kathy Hanson also joined Kenneth Koehler and C. Ted Peterson from statistics as part of the eight-member ISU team that conducted the research.

The researchers ran statistical analyses to determine dress in BMD at the lumbar spine, total proximal femur (hip), femoral neck and whole body. They accounted for treatment, age, whole body fat plurality and bone removal (using a biochemical marker).

While the 120-mg dose soy isoflavones did reveal a small protective effect on femoral neck bone BMD, researchers institute no significant effect of treatment on lumbar spine, total hip, or whole-body BMD.

"This trial used isoflavones extracted from soy protein, compressed into tablet form, consumed over the course of three years, which is very different than either providing soy protein or soy foods," Alekel said. "In our recent study, we did not demonstrate an significant biological effect on BMD or bone turnover." Research questions bone loss value of soy isoflavones

The new study calls into question the value of postmenopausal women consuming soy isoflavone tablets to help lessen bone loss and minimize the effect of osteoporosis.

"The preponderance of studies that have been published -- particularly the longer term, more carefully conducted studies, like our own -- have shown little to no biological effects of soy isoflavones on BMD," she said. "This field of research has attracted 'believers,' making it difficult to convince them otherwise. They may continue to accept what they want to believe, rather than what the evidence shows."

And when it comes to minimizing the consequences of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women, Alekel urges a more holistic approach.

"People, in general, would like an easy fix. We would all like soy isoflavones to be that magic pill, but this study has found that they are not," she said.

Results from other health outcomes from this research have been published in six manuscripts to date, with six additional manuscripts underway. The NWRC research team will continue to study factors that direct bone mineral density and health outcomes in postmenopausal women.

Rewrite From :  medicalnewstoday.com , caonline.amcancersoc.org