Early Menopause May Double Stroke Risk Siloam Springs AR

Women who have their last period before age 42 are two times more likely to have a stroke down the road than those who experience menopause later in life, according to a University of Michigan School of Public Health study. 

Most women go through menopause, which is marked by completing one year without periods, at an average age of 51.  Some, however, enter this transition years earlier. They may undergo surgery or a medical treatment that removes their ovaries or stops production of reproductive hormones including estrogen and progesterone. Some have other medical diagnoses that shut down hormone production early. When menopause happens before age 40, it's called premature menopause. The study, published in the February 2009 issue of Stroke, identified women who went through menopause before age 42 as the ones with increased risk.

According to Dr. Linda Lisabeth, PhD, author of the study, early menopause doubles the risk for ischemic stroke (the most common type--characterized by clogged blood vessels). The American Stroke Association states that about 144,000 people die annually from stroke.  Hundreds of thousands more are seriously disabled. 

Lisabeth followed 1430 women throughout a long-term study.  All were stroke-free until age 60, had gone through natural menopause, and none had used estrogen before menopause.  Out of that group, 56 went through menopause before age 42; 1299 experienced it between ages 42 and 54, and 75 completed menopause after age 55. ..

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