Beyond Hot Flashes: Understanding Menopause’s Impact on Your Heart

When you think about the ways menopause can impact your life, your mind probably goes to the things you can see and feel. You might think about hot flashes or changes to your hair and skin. All the while, though, other changes happen behind the scenes.

During American Heart Month, we want to focus on a lesser-known consequence of menopause: the toll it can take on your cardiovascular health. 

Charis Trench-Simmons, MD, and Lorenza Simmons, MD, specialize in helping women navigate menopause and its many unwelcome changes. That includes a heightened risk of cardiovascular disease. 

With hormone replacement therapy (HRT), we can help you mitigate this risk — and feel better throughout this life transition. We offer HRT here at Prestige Healthcare OBGYN in Atlanta. 

To help you decide if this treatment could be right for you, let’s take a closer look at the way menopause impacts your heart health.

The link between menopause and cardiovascular disease risk

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States. But many don’t know how the natural decline of hormone levels impacts their risk. 

As you get older, your body produces less estrogen. That changes you in several ways, including ending your menstrual cycle. You get diagnosed with menopause when you officially haven’t had a period for 12 months.

Most women notice unwelcome changes well before they hit that point, though. You might have trouble sleeping or feel more anxious.

On top of the noticeable symptoms of premenopause and menopause, shifts happen internally. Specifically, as your estrogen levels drop, things change in your blood vessels. Estrogen has a protective effect. With less of it, plaque builds up faster, clogging blood flow. 

Throughout menopause, your body stores fat differently, and your cholesterol levels can move toward an unhealthier balance (i.e., less “good” cholesterol). 

All of this negatively impacts your arteries. As a result, women going through menopause and post-menopausal women have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. 

Early research on HRT and heart health

With hormone replacement therapy, we can replenish the estrogen your body no longer makes naturally. That helps offset symptoms such as hot flashes, mood changes, and sleep issues. 

Researchers increasingly believe it could also impact your cardiovascular health. One recent study directly linked hormone therapy with a lower risk of heart disease. 

Other research says that women who start HRT before 60, when they’re in or near menopause, lower their risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. 

During American Heart Month, take proactive steps to protect your cardiovascular system. To explore hormone replacement therapy, call our office or book your visit online today.