Cor Vasa 2014, 56(2):e113-e117 | DOI: 10.1016/j.crvasa.2014.01.004

Changes in cardiovascular risk profile in women after menopause (Prague Pre and Post Menopausal Female study)

Jan Piťha^a,*, Ondřej Auzký^a, Jan Kovář^a, Magdaléna Lejsková^b, Silvia Adámková^c, Eva Babková^d, Tomáš Adámek^d, Petr Stávek^a, Romana Dembovská^a, Jolana Mrázková^a

^a Laboratoř pro výzkum aterosklerózy, Institut klinické a experimentální medicíny, Praha, Česká republika

^b Institut pro další vzdělávání lékařů, Praha, Česká republika

^c Klinika transplantační chirurgie, Institut klinické a experimentální medicíny, Praha, Česká republika

^d Interní oddělení, Thomayerova nemocnice, Praha, Česká republika

Introduction: Atherosclerosis is the main cause of mortality in the Czech Republic. In our previous cross-sectional studies, we detected a high prevalence of metabolic cardiovascular risk factors in women before and after menopause and found menopausal transition to be critical period for atherosclerosis acceleration. In the present longitudinal study, we studied changes of main cardiovascular risk factors in women after transition to menopause.

Methods: We analyzed data of 195 women who became menopausal and 292 women who stayed in menopause during 6-year period. The cardiovascular risk factors under study were as follows: smoking, body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure, plasma lipids including apolipoprotein B and A-1 and fasting glycemia.

Results: The most striking differences between newly and steadily menopausal women were found in changes of plasma lipids. With the exception of HDL cholesterol all changes were less favorable in newly menopausal women and were not associated with treatment with statins. No significant differences between both groups were found for changes in body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure and fasting glycemia.

Conclusions: In longitudinal study we confirmed that time around menopausal transition is one of the most dynamic periods regarding changes of cardiovascular factors, mainly plasma lipids.

Keywords: Cardiovascular risk factors; Longitudinal study; Menopausal transition; Plasma lipids

Received: November 1, 2013; Revised: January 17, 2014; Accepted: January 20, 2014; Published: April 1, 2014  Show citation