Coronary heart disease risk factors and menopause: a study in 1684 French women

• Published in: Atherosclerosis 1999-02, Vol.142 (2), p.415-423
• Main Authors: Trémollières, Florence A., Pouilles, Jean-Michel, Cauneille, Colette, Ribot, Claude
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Cardio-vascular risk factor; Cardiology. Vascular system; Cholesterol - blood; Coronary Disease - blood; Coronary Disease - epidemiology; Coronary Disease - etiology; Coronary heart disease; Estradiol - blood; Female; Follicle Stimulating Hormone - blood; France - epidemiology; Heart; Humans; Hypercholesterolemia; Hypercholesterolemia - blood; Hypercholesterolemia - complications; Hypercholesterolemia - epidemiology; Hypertension; Hypertension - blood; Hypertension - complications; Hypertension - epidemiology; Incidence; Lipoproteins - blood; Medical sciences; Menopause; Menopause - blood; Middle Aged; Obesity - blood; Obesity - complications; Obesity - epidemiology; Prevalence; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; Smoking - adverse effects; Surveys and Questionnaires; Triglycerides - blood
• ISSN: 0021-9150; 1879-1484
• DOI: 10.1016/S0021-9150(98)00252-4

This study aimed to assess the relationship between menopause and various risk factors for coronary heart diseases (CHD) in a large sample of French women aged 45–65 years. One thousand six hundred and eighty-four consecutive healthy women who received a systematic check-up in our Menopause Unit were included in this study. All the women answered a computer-assisted questionnaire which comprised 156 items, 72 questions being exclusively related to the identification of familial and personal cardio-vascular risk factors. Biological measurements were performed to evaluate lipid–lipoprotein profile and fasting glucose levels. Women, none of whom were treated with hormonal replacement therapy, were classified as postmenopausal according to the date of their last menses and levels of serum FSH and estradiol ( n=1200). Perimenopausal women were further subdivided into two subgroups according to the regularity of their menstrual cycles and FSH levels (early ( n=143) and late ( n=341) perimenopause). 12% ( n=205) of the women were currently receiving lipid-lowering drugs (84.4% postmenopausal vs. 15.6% perimenopausal). When all women were considered, menopause was associated with a higher prevalence of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia (serum total cholesterol level >250 mg/dl+LDL cholesterol level >160 mg/dl). This higher prevalence in postmenopausal women was also found when the analysis was restricted to women aged 45–55 years, which rather suggests an effect of menopause than of age. Of the women not receiving hypolipidemic treatments, postmenopausal women had significantly higher serum levels of total cholesterol, LDL , VLDL cholesterol, triglycerides and apolipoprotein B and lower levels of HDL cholesterol than perimenopausal women. Multivariate analysis indicated that these effects were independent of age, body mass index and years since menopause. The prevalence of other metabolic disturbances was much more lower. On average, perimenopausal women had significantly less CHD risk factors than postmenopausal women ( P