This Article Full Text Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Akahoshi, M. Articles by Yano, K. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Akahoshi, M. Articles by Yano, K. Pubmed/NCBI databases Compound via MeSH Substance via MeSH Hazardous Substances DB CHOLESTEROL Medline Plus Health Information Menopause

(Circulation. 1996;94:61-66.)
© 1996 American Heart Association, Inc.

Articles

Effects of Menopause on Trends of Serum Cholesterol, Blood Pressure, and Body Mass Index

Masazumi Akahoshi, MD, PhD; Midori Soda, MD; Eiji Nakashima, MS; Katsutaro Shimaoka, MD; Shinji Seto, MD, PhD; Katsusuke Yano, MD, PhD

From the Department of Clinical Studies, Radiation Effects Research Foundation, Nagasaki (M.A., M.S., K.S.); the Department of Statistics, Radiation Effects Research Foundation, Hiroshima (E.N.); and the Third Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine (S.S., K.Y.), Japan.

Correspondence to Masazumi Akahoshi, MD, PhD, Department of Clinical Studies, Radiation Effects Research Foundation, 8-6 Nakagawa 1-chome, Nagasaki 850, Japan.

Background To elucidate the impact of menopause on coronary risk factors, we determined the trends of serum cholesterol (mg/dL), blood pressure (BP, mm Hg), and body mass index (BMI, kg/m²) and investigated whether menopause affects these trends in women in Nagasaki, Japan.

Methods and Results Trends of cholesterol, systolic BP (SBP), and BMI from 9 years before menopause through 9 years after menopause in 579 women with natural menopause (ranging in age from 40.2±3.1 to 57.9±3.1 years; age at menopause, 49.4±3.0 years) and 134 women with surgical menopause (hysterectomy with or without bilateral oophorectomy; ranging in age from 34.9±4.5 to 51.7±5.1 years; age at menopause, 42.9±5.0 years) and those in 579 and 134 age- and time-matched male subjects (ranging in age from 40.1±3.1 to 57.8±3.2 years and from 35.2±4.5 to 51.6±5.0 years, respectively) in Nagasaki were determined by rearrangement of the data from 1958 to 1989 with time of menopause as the datum line. Although cholesterol tended to increase with age in both sexes, it increased significantly in women from 3 years before natural menopause to 1 year after natural menopause and from 1 year before surgical menopause to 1 year after surgical menopause. SBP and BMI did not exhibit a significant increase in relation to natural or surgical menopause. In male subjects, no significant increase of cholesterol, SBP, or BMI was observed at the age corresponding to natural or surgical menopause.

Conclusions Natural menopause and surgical menopause exert an effect only on cholesterol, and an increase in cholesterol precedes natural menopause by 3 years and occurs at the time of surgical menopause.

Key Words: women • cholesterol • blood pressure

This article has been cited by other articles:

				I. Janssen, L. H. Powell, S. Crawford, B. Lasley, and K. Sutton-Tyrrell Menopause and the Metabolic Syndrome: The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation Arch Intern Med, July 28, 2008; 168(14): 1568 - 1575. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. M.L. Skidmore, A. Cassidy, R. Swaminathan, M. Falchi, T. D. Spector, and A. J. MacGregor Intrauterine, Environmental, and Genetic Influences in the Relationship Between Birth Weight and Lipids in a Female Twin Cohort Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol., October 1, 2006; 26(10): 2373 - 2379. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. S. Kok, K. M. van Asselt, Y. T. van der Schouw, I. van der Tweel, P. H.M. Peeters, P. W.F. Wilson, P. L. Pearson, and D. E. Grobbee Heart Disease Risk Determines Menopausal Age Rather Than the Reverse J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., May 16, 2006; 47(10): 1976 - 1983. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				V. Bittner Perspectives on Dyslipidemia and Coronary Heart Disease in Women J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., November 1, 2005; 46(9): 1628 - 1635. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. Peng, J. T. Clark, J. Prasain, H. Kim, C. R. White, and J. M. Wyss Antihypertensive and cognitive effects of grape polyphenols in estrogen-depleted, female, spontaneously hypertensive rats Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, September 1, 2005; 289(3): R771 - R775. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Zhan and S. C Ho Meta-analysis of the effects of soy protein containing isoflavones on the lipid profile Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, February 1, 2005; 81(2): 397 - 408. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. M.L. Skidmore, R. J. Hardy, D. J. Kuh, C. Langenberg, and M. E. J. Wadsworth Birth Weight and Lipids in a National Birth Cohort Study Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol., March 1, 2004; 24(3): 588 - 594. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				V. Stangl, G. Baumann, and K. Stangl Coronary atherogenic risk factors in women Eur. Heart J., November 2, 2002; 23(22): 1738 - 1752. [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. J Baer, J. T Judd, B. A Clevidence, R. A Muesing, W. S Campbell, E. D Brown, and P. R Taylor Moderate alcohol consumption lowers risk factors for cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women fed a controlled diet Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, March 1, 2002; 75(3): 593 - 599. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Z. Fang, S. H. Carlson, Y. F. Chen, S. Oparil, and J. M. Wyss Estrogen depletion induces NaCl-sensitive hypertension in female spontaneously hypertensive rats Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, December 1, 2001; 281(6): R1934 - R1939. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Matsuo, M. Akahoshi, E. Nakashima, A. Suyama, S. Seto, M. Hayano, and K. Yano The prevalence, incidence and prognostic value of the Brugada-type electrocardiogram: A population-based study of four decades J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., September 1, 2001; 38(3): 765 - 770. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				V. Bittner Estrogens, lipids and cardiovascular disease: no easy answers J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., February 1, 2001; 37(2): 431 - 433. [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. S. Hayward, R. P. Kelly, and P. Collins The roles of gender, the menopause and hormone replacement on cardiovascular function Cardiovasc Res, April 1, 2000; 46(1): 28 - 49. [Full Text] [PDF]

				A.S Fak, M Erenus, H Tezcan, O Caymaz, P AtagunduZ, S Oktay, and A Oktay Effects of simvastatin only or in combination with continuous combined hormone replacement therapy on serum lipid levels in hypercholesterolaemic post-menopausal women Eur. Heart J., February 1, 2000; 21(3): 190 - 197. [Abstract] [PDF]

				E. Sbarouni, Z. S. Kyriakides, and D. T. Kremastinos The effect of hormone replacement therapy alone and in combination with simvastatin on plasma lipids of hypercholesterolemic postmenopausal women with coronary artery disease J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., November 1, 1998; 32(5): 1244 - 1250. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]