CVD Risk Linked to Timing of Reproductive Factors

Various reproductive factors such as early menarche, early menopause, and history of miscarriage contribute to a higher risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women aged 40 to 69 years, a new study showed.

From 2006 to 2010, researchers from the United Kingdom (UK) Biobank recruited and evaluated more than 500,000 participants aged 40 to 69 years with no history of CVD at baseline. Follow-up lasted 7 years.
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Over the course of follow-up, the researchers identified 9054 incident cases of CVD, 5782 cases of coronary heart disease (CHD), and 3489 cases of stroke in both male (n=215,088) and female participants (n=267,440).

Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for associations of CVD, CHD, and stroke with reproductive factors were calculated via Cox regression models. Risk factors for developing CVD included early menarche (before age 12 years; adjusted HR 1.10), history of miscarriage (1.04) and/or stillbirth (1.14), and early menopause (before age 47 years; 1.33). The adjusted HR for each year increase in age at first birth was found to be 0.97.

Hysterectomy with (2.30) or without previous oophorectomy (1.16) also carried an increased risk for CVD. Furthermore, in women and men, each additional child was associated with HRs of 1.03 (1.00 to 1.06) and 1.03 (1.02 to 1.05), respectively.

“Early menarche, early menopause, earlier age at first birth, and a history of miscarriage, stillbirth or hysterectomy were each independently associated with a higher risk of CVD in later life,” the researchers concluded. “The relationship between the number of children and incident CVD was similar for men and women.”

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Peters SAE, Woodward M. Women’s reproductive factors and incident cardiovascular disease in the UK Biobank [Published online January 15, 2018]. Heart. doi:10.1136/heartjnl-2017-312289.