Heart News
Late menopause makes for healthy blood vessels
New research could lead to better heart disease prevention for early menopausal women
Women who experience menopause later than expected have healthier blood vessels compared to their peers entering menopause at a younger age, says a new finding that could help reduce heart disease risk in women.
Previous research found that women hitting menopause at 55 or older were up to 20 percent less likely to have heart disease than those who entered it at the usual age between 45 and 54. The new study published in the journal Circulation Research now adds an important piece to the puzzle.
“ Our paper identifies that there’ s actually a physiological benefit to later-onset menopause and is one of the first to identify the specific mechanisms driving these benefits,” first author Sanna Darvish, a PhD candidate in the Department of Integrative Physiology at the University of Colorado Boulder, said in a press release.
Researchers measured the functions of mitochondria, or the cell’ s power plants, and observed they worked more efficiently in late-onset menopausal women, leading to the production of fewer free radicals or molecules that can damage cell tissue, proteins, and DNA. The late-onset group also had healthier blood components than women going through menopause earlier. This led the authors to speculate that mitochondria and blood components, in particular fat-related ones, play a role in driving heart risk in postmenopausal women.
In the future, the research team plans to investigate the impact of early menopause on heart health and whether reducing free radicals in blood vessels can protect women from heart disease risk.
“ We hope this work puts age at menopause on the map as a femalespecific risk factor that women and their doctors discuss more,” said Darvish.
Flossing can protect against stroke and heart rhythm problems
The new study offers another good reason to dental floss
US researchers have found that flossing at least once a week results in lower risk for stroke and atrial fibrillation( AFib), a common heart rhythm abnormality that can contribute to stroke.
“ I wouldn’ t say dental flossing is the only thing you need to do to prevent a stroke, but our findings suggest it is one more thing to be added to a healthy lifestyle,” lead researcher Dr Souvik Sen, a professor and chair of the Neurology Department at the University of South Carolina, said in a press release.
The results are based on a survey of 6,278 people in the US who were asked about their dental flossing routine, with 65 percent of them saying they flossed at least once a week. Researchers then followed participants for 25 years to check whether they had AFib or an ischaemic stroke, where a blood vessel supplying the brain gets blocked.
People who flossed their teeth saw their ischaemic stroke and AFib risks decrease by 22 and 12 percent, respectively, compared to non-flossers.
“ Dental flossing reduces oral infections and gum disease, which are linked to inflammation,” Dr Sen said, adding that since inflammation can contribute to stroke risk,“ it would make sense that if people flossed regularly, it might also reduce the risk of stroke and AFib.”
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