New research presented at the ESC Congress 2024 in London, UK (30 August—2 September) shows that women in the menopause transition period show changes in their blood cholesterol profiles which could have an adverse impact on their cardiovascular health. "There is an increase in 'bad' low-density type lipoprotein (LDL) particles and a decrease in 'good' high-density lipoprotein particles (HDL) that takes place during and after the menopause transition," says study author Dr. Stephanie Moreno, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, U.
S. "Taken together, these changes suggest that menopause is associated with a transition to a higher-risk lipoprotein profile that could be more likely to cause cardiovascular disease, such as coronary artery disease ." Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the biggest killer of women, despite the misconception that CVD is a "man's disease"—40% of all deaths in women are from CVD.
While women develop cardiovascular disease (CVD) approximately ten years later than men, risk of CVD in women rises after menopause. The mechanisms underlying this acceleration in CVD risk are not well understood, but adverse changes in blood fat (lipid) measures are known to occur during the perimenopause period. Previous investigations have been largely restricted to traditional lipid measures (LDL [bad] cholesterol, HDL [good] cholesterol, and triglycerides) and have not examined changes in advanced lipids, including lipid subfractions and particle .