Stress could increase risk of heart disease in women.(Brief Article)

2002 APR 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Reduced estrogen levels during women's premenopausal years may set the stage for heart disease later in life, reported Jay Kaplan, PhD, from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in the March 2002 issue of The Green Journal, a publication of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

"Our study of female monkeys indicates that stress affects estrogen levels and can lead to the development of heart disease - even before menopause," said Kaplan.

An accompanying editorial by Sarah Berga, MD, from the University of Pittsburgh, emphasizes that stress-induced hormonal changes in premenopausal women is an under-appreciated clinical problem.

"This study adds to the growing body of evidence that cardiovascular health after menopause is influenced by hormone levels many years earlier," said Kaplan. "The message for women is that anything that reduces estrogen levels in young adulthood - whether it be stress or exercise and diet habits - may put women on a high-risk course for heart disease."

Women have traditionally been considered immune from heart disease until after menopause, when their estrogen levels dramatically drop. Kaplan's study showed that in monkeys, stress can actually reduce estrogen levels much earlier in life and cause atherosclerosis that can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

"This research demonstrates that a deficiency of estrogen before menopause places these females on a high-risk trajectory, even if they got estrogen treatment after menopause," said Kaplan. "The results emphasize that primary prevention of heart disease should start premenopausally."

The study found that treating the estrogen-deficient monkeys with estrogen before menopause markedly slowed the growth of atherosclerosis. Kaplan said the ...