New Delhi: Women may need to pay more attention to their heart health well before menopause.
A long-running study suggests that their cardiovascular clock may start ticking much earlier than previously thought.
The study analysed 6,760 participants in the US and followed measurements from three visits over 14 years. Researchers found that pulse pressure began shifting from a falling to a rising trajectory around 37-39 years in women, compared with about 47 years in men. The study, recently published in the journal Hypertension, challenges the commonly held assumption that the rise in arterial stiffness and pulse pressure among women is primarily a consequence of the hormonal changes accompanying menopause. The widespread assumption has been that the rise in arterial stiffness among women is accompanied by the fall in oestrogen and the arrival of menopause.
By around 60 years, women had a higher average pulse pressure than men. Among some women, this change comes nearly two decades before menopause. Cardiologists also stress that the study does not establish that menopause has no cardiovascular effect, nor does it mean that pulse pressure alone should determine treatment. The research is observational and cannot establish cause and effect. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Delhi | Silver Rate in Delhi | Bank Holidays in Delhi | Public Holidays in Delhi | Delhi AQI | Weather in Delhi | Petrol Price in Delhi | Diesel Price in Delhi | CNG Price in Delhi | LPG Price in Delhi
The study suggests that the change in pulse pressure from a falling to a rising pattern begins in women in their late 30s, which is a decade earlier than in men. The study also found that although women had lower pulse pressure than men earlier in life, the rise became faster in women after midlife.