Menopause and cardiovascular disease: A systematic review

Menopause and cardiovascular disease: A systematic review
Sedigheh solgi,^1,* zeinab sadat moosavifard,² ashraf beirami,³ shekufe zaree,⁴ shilan azizi,⁵
1. BSc in Nursing, Department of Nursing, Bandar Abbas Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
2. Department of Nursing, faculty of nursing, Bandar Abbas Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
3. Department of Nursing, faculty of nursing, Bandar Abbas Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
4. Department of Nursing, faculty of nursing, Bandar Abbas Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
5. Department of Nursing, faculty of nursing, Bandar Abbas Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
Introduction: In the last few decades, the elderly population has outnumbered the young, while women spend nearly a third of their lives after menopause. From the perspective of global health, menopausal complications and problems are considered very important in women. Menopause and its hormonal changes have a significant impact on the overall health of women, especially the health of the cardiovascular system, so that the death rate of women due to cardiovascular disease is twice as high as that of malignant diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk factors and cardiovascular disorders in postmenopausal women.
Methods: In this study, which is a kind of systematic review, by reviewing valid books, related materials and concepts, collected and categorized and searching in selected scientific databases, including Iran medex, Google Scholar, Pubmed, SID with the keywords menopause women, cardiovascular disease , Risk factor, complication was used and 350 articles were obtained. Among these articles, the full-text articles that were available and published in the last five years received further scrutiny.
Results: The results of this study showed that menopause has a significant effect on the incidence of cardiovascular disease; As the production of estrogen decreases, the level of serum lipids and cholesterol increases, and consequently the dilation and elasticity of blood vessels decreases, and the function of the heart in pumping blood to the organs is impaired. Menopausal hot flashes can also lead to cardiovascular disease by increasing vascular obstruction and increased vascular endothelial disorders. In addition to hormonal changes, factors such as waist size, blood pressure, smoking, physical activity and financial stress during menopause also affect heart disease.
Conclusion: This study showed that menopause endangers cardiovascular health in women. Therefore, preventive measures in late menstruation and early menopause can be effective in reducing cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women. Preventive measures require intervention in screening, timely identification, treatment, education and proper information. To improve lifestyles, people can change their performance by increasing their awareness through mass media.
Keywords: Menopause, cardiovascular disease, side effects, risk factor