Background: Early menopause may be associated with higher cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk due to the early cessation of estrogens protection. The presence of diabetes (DM) coupled with early menopause may result in even greater CVD risk in postmenopausal women. We compared CVD risk in women with early vs. normal age menopause with and without DM.
Methods: We pooled data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, and the Jackson Heart Study. Women with data on menopausal status, age at menopause and DM (yes/no) were included. We excluded pre- or peri-menopausal women, those with hysterectomy/oophorectomy or prevalent CVD. Outcomes were incident coronary heart disease (CHD), ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke, heart failure (HF), and a composite CVD outcome (CHD, stroke or HF). Cox models examined the risk associated with early (<45 yrs) vs. normal age (≥45 yrs) menopause. Covariates included baseline age, race, education, BMI, blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, alcohol consumption, and hormone therapy use.
Results: During a median follow-up of 15 yrs for 5964 postmenopausal women, 684 CHD, 434 stroke, 962 HF and 1535 CVD events occurred. In adjusted models, women with early menopause had elevated risk of CHD (Hazard ratio 1.12, 95% CI 1.03-1.22), stroke (1.09, 1.01-1.18) and HF (1.09, 1.00-1.19) compared to those with normal age menopause. DM was a significant effect modifier to the relationship between early menopause and CHD, stroke or CVD (P for interaction ≤0.05). HRs for early menopause and the outcomes were greater in diabetic than nondiabetic women (CHD 1.34, 1.02-1.78 vs. 1.10, 1.00-1.20; stroke 1.26, 0.98-1.61 vs. 1.07, 0.98-1.16; CVD 1.41, 1.01-1.95 vs. 1.04, 0.94-1.14).
Conclusion: Early menopause increases risk for CVD in postmenopausal women; DM places this group at even higher CVD risk. Attention to CVD risk monitoring and management in women with early menopause, with and without diabetes, should be considered.
Y. Yoshida: None. Z. Chen: None. R. L. Baudier: None. M. Krousel-wood: None. A. H. Anderson: None. V. Fonseca: Consultant; Self; Abbott Diabetes, Asahi Kasei Corporation, Bayer Inc., Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Intarcia Therapeutics, Inc., Novo Nordisk, Pfizer Inc., Sanofi-Aventis, Stock/Shareholder; Self; Amgen Inc., Bravo4health, Mellitus Health. F. Mauvais-jarvis: None.
National Institutes of Health (K12HD043451)