Age at period cessation not linked to CVD risk trajectories

(HealthDay)—There is little evidence for associations between age at period cessation and trajectories of anthropometry, blood pressure, lipids, and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) measures, according to a study published online Feb. 25 in Heart.

Linda Marie O’Keeffe, Ph.D., from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, and colleagues examined the association between age at cessation of period and trajectories of systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference (WC) from ages 36 to 69 years and trajectories of triglyceride, low- and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C and HDL-C), and HbA1c from ages 53 to 69 years.

The researchers observed no evidence for associations between age at period cessation and trajectories of log triglyceride, LDL-C, and HDL-C or with trajectories of SBP or DBP; this finding was irrespective of whether period cessation occurred naturally or due to hysterectomy. There was some evidence noted for associations between age at period cessation and log BMI, log WC, and log HbA1c; the patterns were inconsistent and differences were small at age 69 years with confidence intervals spanning the null value.

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