Mayo Clinic finds estrogen may prevent younger menopausal women from strokes

Estrogen may prevent strokes in premature or early menopausal women, Mayo Clinic researchers say. Their findings challenge the conventional wisdom that estrogen is a risk factor for stroke at all ages. The study was published in the journal Menopause. Researchers combined the results from a recent Mayo Clinic study with six other studies from across the world and found that estrogen is protective for stroke before age 50. That is roughly the average age when women go through menopause. "We were very surprised because these results were unexpected," says study author Walter Rocca, M.D., an epidemiologist and neurologist at Mayo Clinic. "The old idea that estrogen is always a problem in the brain has to be corrected." Estrogen can be a problem in older women, he explains, but in younger women, estrogen may be important to protect the brain from strokes. The study has implications for women who experience premature (before age 40) or early menopause (before age 45) from natural causes or from ovary removal. Women in these groups should consider taking estrogen up to approximately age 50 to prevent stroke, Dr. Rocca says. Ischemic stroke occurs as a result of an obstruction within a blood vessel supplying blood to the brain. According to the American Stroke Association, these types of strokes account for 87 percent of all stroke cases

Menopause increases heart risk (USA)

Women entering menopause need to be aware of their increasing risk of heart disease, a U.S. doctor advises. Dr. Vera Rigolin of Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago says women need to know their symptoms of heart attack may differ from those of men. Men often experience chest discomfort while women commonly may have other, more subtle symptoms - such as fatigue, nausea, shortness of breath, jaw pain or abdominal discomfort. "In some women, plaque can build in the smallest blood vessels called the microvascular circulation. These blockages do not show up in an angiogram," Rigolin says in a statement. "In these cases, we often use magnetic resonance imaging with medication to visualize blood flow within the small blood vessels when other standard tests do not provide us answers." Menopausal women can lower their risk of heart disease by adopting a healthy lifestyle, Rigolin says. "If you are a smoker, quit immediately and avoid secondhand smoke. Eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and exercise at least three times per week to maintain a healthy body weight," she says. Rigolin urges visiting a healthcare provider at least yearly to have blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol checked

Shorter menopause may speed risk of heart disease

Women who have a shorter menopause may be at greater risk for earlier onset of heart disease, a new study says. In a study of more than 200 middle-aged women, those who completed menopause within three years had more fatty plaque built up in their carotid arteries, putting them at risk for "preclinical atherosclerosis" narrowing of arteries caused by the thickening of their walls. "We know that more fatty plaque accumulation predicts future heart attacks and strokes, but this is our first venture into this particular line of inquiry. This is an observational study, which doesn't provide specific recommendations for patient evaluation and treatment, but it does raise questions," study principal investigator Dr. C. Noel Bairey Merz, a cardiologist and director of the Women's Heart Center and the Preventive and Rehabilitative Cardiac Center at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, said in an institute news release - MedicineNet.com