Women's Heart Health and the Menopausal Transition: Two Faces of the Same Coin

Abstract

The impact of the presence or absence of sex hormones on women's health is woefully underresearched. Fundamentally, women's bodies are now understood to spend considerable time under widely fluctuating hormonal influences, including puberty, pregnancy, peripartum, and menopause, and a woman's vessels are therefore preset for functional and physiological alterations based on levels of sex hormones. However, our understanding of the influences of sex hormones on the regulation of a multitude of biological and physiological processes has not translated into the development and/or collection or analyses of data on therapeutic treatments and/or outcomes in the context of women's disease management.

Figure 1

Female-specific risk factors and strategies for prevention. BP, blood pressure; CV, cardiovascular; CVD, cardiovascular disease; HRT, hormone replacement therapy; IHD, ischemic heart disease; MHT, menopausal hormone therapy; OGTT, oral glucose tolerance test. Reproduced with permission from Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology from Maas AH, et al.; permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.

Figure 2

The Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop + 10 staging system for reproductive aging in women. AMH, anti-Mullerian hormone. FMP, final menstrual period; FSH, follicle-stimulating hormone; IU, international units. Reproduced with permission from The North American Menopause Society from Harlow et al.; permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.