Menopausal effects on risk factors for ischaemic heart disease.

Women of almost identical age but with a different menopausal state were compared in a population study of women, which was carried out in Goteborg, Sweden. The group of women aged 50 comprised about the same number of still menstruating and postmenopausal women and was, therefore, especially suitable for such a comparison. Serum cholesterol and serum triglycerides were higher in postmenopausal than in premenopausal 50-yr-old women and seemed to increase with postmenopausal time. The differences between premenopausal and postmenopausal women were hightly significant. Systolic blood pressure was slightly but significantly different (lower in postmenopausal women), while no difference was found for diastolic blood pressure. It seems that differences in risk factors for ischaemic heart disease could explain part of but not all the association between early menopause and ischaemic heart disease.