Menopausal ‘middle-age spread’ raises CVD risk: study
US study shows increases in visceral adipose tissue predict a greater carotid intima-media thickness in menopausal women
During the menopause transition, women experience an accelerated increase in abdominal visceral adipose tissue that is associated with greater risk of carotid atherosclerosis, according to new US research.
In a paper in Menopause, researchers report data panning 25 years on 362 women (mean age 51 years, 61% white, 39% black) with no CVD at baseline who had up to two measurements of abdominal visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and internal carotid artery intima-media thickness (ICA-IMT).
They found VAT increased by 8.2% in the two years leading up to their final menstrual period and by 5.8% per year after it.
And that greater VAT predicted greater ICA-IMT, such that a 20% greater VAT was associated with a 2% greater ICA-IMT.
