Study suggests pregnancy, ovarian function are risk factors for coronary artery disease

A new study suggested the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) could be identified earlier by looking at reproductive risk factors.

Study results were published in Menopause, the journal of the menopause society- North American Menopause Society (NAMS).

CAD is the most common type of cardiovascular disease.

Because women have different symptoms than men, and most traditional health studies have focused on men, women are often misdiagnosed or the diagnosis and treatment may be delayed, creating a greater risk for an adverse cardiac event or death.

Previous studies have provided mixed conclusions regarding the association between various reproductive risk factors, such as pregnancy and ovarian function, and CAD.

However, most of these studies were small and only evaluated a limited number of risk factors.

This new study is one of the first known larger studies (involving nearly 1,500 postmenopausal women) to consider a broad range of reproductive risk factors.

These include pregnancy factors, such as the number and type of pregnancy and age at first birth, as well as ovarian function factors including age at menarche, age at menopause, and reproductive life span.

Researchers in this study sought to compare reproductive factors among postmenopausal women with no apparent CAD, nonobstructive CAD, and obstructive CAD, which is the most serious form of CAD and typically leads to the worst prognoses.

Because of its seriousness, the researchers specifically focused on identifying reproductive risk factors for obstructive CAD.

They concluded that multigravidity (three or more pregnancies), early menopause, and a shorter reproductive life span are independent risk factors for angiographic obstructive CAD in postmenopausal women.