As women get older, they need to pay closer attention to their heart health. After all, heart disease is the leading killer of women who have completed menopause.
One reason for this spike is plummeting estrogen levels.
Estrogen is more than a female hormone. It affects factors that regulate vascular wall elasticity, impacting blood pressure and circulation.
Without it, blood vessels begin to constrict, making it easier for cholesterol to build up on artery walls.
This makes it even more important for women in midlife to protect their heart health by following Life’s Essential 8 (LE8), a series of steps recommended by the American Heart Association (AHA) for lowering the odds of heart disease. These steps are as follows:
- Eat better
- Be more active
- Quit tobacco
- Get healthy sleep
- Manage weight
- Control cholesterol
- Manage blood sugar
- Manage blood pressure
But research has discovered that one of these, in particular, is a ticking time bomb for women’s heart health — and death risk overall…
«SPONSORED»
One of the essential 8 stood out
The researchers analyzed health data collected from about 3,000 women who participated in the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN), which began in 1996. They compared the women’s LE8 scores at baseline, which was around age 46, to their evolving health trajectories over time.
They took into account subclinical measures, such as increased carotid artery thickness; cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and strokes; and mortality from all causes. They also examined the impacts of each of the individual LE8 components.
Their analysis found that four factors were responsible for driving the increased risk for cardiovascular disease in menopausal women. They included: blood glucose, blood pressure, sleep quality and nicotine use.
But above all, sleep emerged as a significant potential predictor of cardiovascular disease events and all-cause mortality.
In other words, meeting the bar for healthy sleep may contribute to women’s heart health and longevity by lowering their cardiovascular risks. LE8 defines healthy sleep as an average of seven to nine hours a night.
This hypothesis should be tested in a future clinical trial, says Ziyuan Wang, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public Health and first author of the study.
“Previously, we’ve shown that the menopause transition is a time of accelerating cardiovascular risk,” says senior author Dr. Samar R. El Khoudary, a professor of epidemiology at Pitt Public Health. “This study underscores that it’s also an opportunity for women to take the reins on their heart health.”
«SPONSORED»
Boosting your Life’s Essential 8 score
In other findings, low total LE8 scores were associated with increased cardiovascular risk. And the study uncovered a worrying statistic: only 1 in 5 of the participants had optimal LE8 scores.
“With heart disease being the leading cause of death in women, these findings point to the need for lifestyle and medical interventions to improve heart health during and after menopause among midlife women,” El Khoudary says.
How can you improve your score?
Start with improving your sleep since it’s such a critical factor. Certain fruits and vegetables can help you sleep better, and that falls in line with the following suggestions:
- Follow a diet that includes whole foods, lots of fruits and vegetables, lean protein, nuts, seeds, and cooking in non-tropical oils such as olive oil. LE8 also mentions canola as a heart-healthy oil, but keep in mind that canola oil has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
- Try to get 2 ½ hours of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity each week. That breaks down to a weekly schedule of five 30-minute sessions of moderate activity (such as walking) or three 25-minute sessions of vigorous physical activity (such as running or high-intensity interval training).
- The AHA defines tobacco use as the use of any inhaled nicotine products, including traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes and vaping. So if you engage in any of these activities, quit today.
- Strive to maintain a healthy weight. The AHA suggests keeping your BMI between 18.5 and 25. Lower than 18.5 is considered underweight, while between 25 and 30 is considered overweight, and over 30 is considered obese. Following a healthy diet and getting enough exercise will go a long way toward keeping your BMI in the healthy range.
Sources:
The sleep-heart link doctors are urging women over 45 to know — ScienceDaily
Prospective associations of American Heart Association Life’s Essential 8 with subclinical measures of vascular health, cardiovascular disease events, and all-cause mortality in women traversing menopause: The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation study — Menopause
Life’s Essential 8 — American Heart Association
Read full article here