Menopausal women have lower risk of dying from heart attack than men
Journal of the American Heart Association report
2015-07-01
(Press-News.org) DALLAS, July 1, 2015 -- While menopause is commonly considered a risk factor for heart disease, menopausal women had a lower risk of dying from heart attack than men; however, this difference was less pronounced among blacks, according to research in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
In the first study to compare men and women and how menopause types impact risk of heart attack, researchers studied 23,086 black and white adults over age 45 and found:
White women who had surgical-induced menopause had a 35 percent reduced risk of non-fatal heart attacks or other cardiac events compared to white men. The reduced risk was 55 percent for natural menopause.
However, the risk of having a non-fatal cardiac event was less pronounced and not statistically significant in black women and men. Black women who had surgical-induced menopause had a 19 percent reduced risk of non-fatal events compared to black men. The reduced risk was 31 percent for natural menopause.
The differences observed for natural and surgical menopause were not statistically significant, suggesting that surgical menopause may not increase women's risk to a large extent.
"Our findings showed that the advantage to going through natural menopause wasn't much higher than surgical menopause, said Catherine Kim, M.D., M.P.H., the study's lead author and an associate professor of medicine in the departments of Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Epidemiology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
"Black women should be aware that the belief that women have a lower risk of heart disease than men may not necessarily apply to them. So, it is particularly important for black women to engage in healthy preventive behaviors, such as exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy weight. But all women should adopt healthy behaviors, since heart disease remains the No. 1 cause of death in women."
INFORMATION:
Co-authors are Catherine Kim, M.D., M.P.H.; Mary Cushman, M.D., M.Sc.; Yulia Khodneva, M.D., Ph.D.; Lynda D. Lisabeth, Ph.D.; Suzanne Judd, Ph.D.; Dawn O. Kleindorfer, M.D.; Virginia J. Howard, Ph.D.; and Monika M. Safford, M.D. Author disclosures are on the manuscript.
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services funded the study.
Additional Resources:
Heart attack animation and illustrations are available in the right column of the release link http://newsroom.heart.org/news/menopausal-women-have-lower-risk-of-dying-from-heart-attack-than-men?preview=19c6e0f08deb214591afa49da02e6382
Statements and conclusions of study authors published in American Heart Association scientific journals are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the association's policy or position. The association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific association programs and events. The association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and device corporations are available at http://www.heart.org/corporatefunding.
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2015-07-01
As we walk along a forest path, the soil beneath our feet seems like a uniform substance. However, it is an intricate network of soil particles, pores, minerals, soil microbes, and more. It is awash in variety.
Soil is a living, dynamic substance, and the microbial life within it is crucial to providing plant life with the food they need to grow. The microbes can be bacteria or fungi, but both need space--the pores--for a good living environment.
Soil particles that clump together are aggregates. These are the architectural building blocks of soil. Their presence ...
2015-07-01
Alexandria, VA - Analyzing thousands of records, researchers have reinforced the claim that for marine life, bigger has been better for the last 542 million years. The study examined Cope's rule - the idea, named for paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope, that species evolve to larger sizes over time.
With the help of undergraduate students and high-school interns, the researchers compiled information on five major marine phyla, including arthropods, brachiopods, chordates, echinoderms and mollusks. Find out how much bigger things got in the June issue of EARTH Magazine: ...
2015-07-01
New research shows that the fearsome teeth of the saber-toothed cat Smilodon fatalis fully emerged at a later age than those of modern big cats, but grew at a rate about double that of their living relatives. The findings, published today in the journal PLOS ONE and based on a new technique that combines isotopic analysis and x-ray imaging, for the first time provide specific ages for developmental events in Smilodon, notably in their teeth. The study estimates that the eruption rate of S. fatalis's permanent upper canines was 6 millimeters per month--double the growth ...
2015-07-01
Statins are a hugely popular drug class used to manage blood cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease. Previous studies had raised questions about adverse behavioral changes with statins, such as irritability or violence, but findings with statins have been inconsistent. In the first randomized trial to look at statin effects on behavior, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that aggressive behavior typically declined among men placed on statins (compared to placebo), but typically increased among women placed on ...
2015-07-01
A newly-discovered, 48-million-year-old fossil, known as a "Jesus lizard" for its ability to walk on water, may provide insight into how climate change may affect tropical species, according to a study published July 1 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Jack Conrad from American Museum of Natural History.
Modern relatives of the Jesus lizard live in an area stretching from central Mexico to northern Colombia, flourishing in the higher temperatures found at the equator. Members of various animal, plant, fungal, and other clades currently confined to the tropics or ...
2015-07-01
An international team of researchers has found some of the first solid evidence that narcolepsy may be a so-called "hit-and-run" autoimmune disease.
The researchers sought to determine why, of two different flu vaccines widely deployed during the 2009 swine flu pandemic, only one was associated with a spike in the incidence of narcolepsy, a rare sleep disorder.
A paper describing their findings will be published July 1 in Science Translational Medicine. Lawrence Steinman, MD, a professor of pediatrics and of neurology and neurological sciences, is the senior author. ...
2015-07-01
While most Americans do not support policies designed to increase distribution of naloxone - a medication that reverses the effects of a drug overdose - certain types of educational messages about its lifesaving benefits may bolster support for its use, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests.
In a report published July 1 in the journal PLOS ONE, the researchers say that combining educational messages about naloxone with sympathetic narratives about people who could have been saved had the drug been available could be key to increasing support ...
2015-07-01
Widely hailed as 'green' sources of renewable energy, hydroelectric dams have been built worldwide at an unprecedented scale. But research from the University of East Anglia reveals that these major infrastructure projects are far from environmentally friendly.
A study published today in PLOS ONE reveals the drastic effects of the major Amazonian Balbina Dam on tropical rainforest biodiversity.
The research reveals a loss of mammals, birds and tortoises from the vast majority of islands formed by the creation of the vast Balbina Lake, one of the world's largest hydroelectric ...
2015-07-01
Vitamin B12 supplements offer no benefits for neurological or cognitive function in older people with moderate vitamin B12 deficiency, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Around one sixth of people in the UK aged over 75 have vitamin B12 deficiency, which when severe can lead to significant problems in the nervous system including muscle weakness, problems with walking, tiredness, and pins and needles, as well as depression and problems with memory and other important everyday cognitive functions. Vitamin B12 is found in everyday ...
2015-07-01
New collaborative research between NOAA, University of Alaska and an Alaskan shellfish hatchery shows that ocean acidification may make it difficult for Alaskan coastal waters to support shellfish hatcheries by 2040 unless costly mitigation efforts are installed to modify seawater used in the hatcheries.
"Our research shows there could be significant effects from ocean acidification on Alaska's emerging shellfish hatchery industry in a matter of two and half decades," said Jeremy Mathis, Ph.D., an oceanographer at NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and a ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Menopausal women have lower risk of dying from heart attack than men
Journal of the American Heart Association report
