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(Circulation. 1995;91:1757-1760.)
© 1995 American Heart Association, Inc.

Articles

Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate Does Not Predict Cardiovascular Death in Postmenopausal Women

The Rancho Bernardo Study

Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, MD; Deborah Goodman-Gruen, MD, PhD

From the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego at La Jolla.

Background High levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) appear to be associated with a reduced risk of fatal cardiovascular disease (CVD) in men. We examined the association between baseline DHEAS levels and the 19-year CVD and ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality rates in 942 postmenopausal women free of known heart disease at baseline.

Methods and Results The 199 CVD deaths and 102 IHD deaths were not related to baseline DHEAS levels. DHEAS was not related to body mass index, fasting plasma glucose, or family history of coronary heart disease, but significantly higher DHEAS levels were found in women who had elevated total or HDL cholesterol or blood pressure, were current smokers, or were nonusers of estrogen replacement therapy. After we adjusted for age, cholesterol, blood pressure, smoking, estrogen replacement therapy, obesity, fasting plasma glucose, and family history of heart disease, the relative risk of fatal CVD and IHD was 1.11 (95% confidence interval, 0.81 to 1.23) and 0.92 (95% confidence interval, 0.85 to 1.17), respectively, for a 50-µg/dL decrease in DHEAS.

Conclusions Although higher DHEAS levels were associated with several major CVD risk factors, they were unrelated to the risk of fatal CVD in women.

Key Words: cardiovascular disease • sex • aging • risk factors

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