World Menopause Day 2023: How Menopause Impacts Cardiovascular Health

It’s that time of year again: World Menopause Day. Taking place in October each year, this annual day gives us a powerful opportunity to raise awareness about menopause and address the support pathways available to menopausal women throughout Australia.

For World Menopause Day in 2023, the theme is cardiovascular disease, highlighting just how crucial it is for every woman entering menopause to be aware of the cardiovascular risks associated with it. 

At the Australian Menopause Centre, we’ve been supporting Australian women in every phase of their menopause journey for more than 23 years. Providing a wide range of personalised treatments that can provide ongoing relief from menopause’s symptoms, we’re passionate about making sure every Australian woman has the support she needs to navigate menopause healthily, confidently, and simply. World Menopause Day is a special day in our calendar as we seek to bring education and access to more women at every stage of their experience.

Whether you’re facing menopause or well into your menopausal journey, understanding how it’s likely to impact you on a physical, mental, and emotional level is foundational to successfully navigating many of the changes it brings. Some of its symptoms are more obvious than others. Of particular concern, however, is the way menopause’s influence on cardiovascular health can often go unnoticed, only making itself known when heart disease is diagnosed. 

This World Menopause Day, we each have an invitation to grow our understanding of the impact menopause can have on our cardiovascular health. The more aware we are, the more we’re able to protect not only ourselves, but the women we love in our community as we navigate through the changes of menopause together.

The heart-menopause connection

If you’ve already entered into menopause, you’ll likely have experienced some of its significant hormonal shifts. One of the most prominent changes comes in the decline in oestrogen levels. While oestrogen is largely involved in our reproductive systems, it’s also responsible for providing protection to our arteries, helping them to remain flexible enough to deliver efficient blood flow.

When the level of oestrogen naturally produced by our bodies drops during menopause, this can lead to ongoing changes in our cardiovascular systems. These nuanced changes may look like increased blood pressure or a shift in cholesterol levels. 

One of the most common risk factors associated with heart attacks and strokes? High blood pressure. Associated with heart attacks and strokes, menopausal women are at an increased risk of experiencing cardiovascular issues as a result of changes brought on by menopause.

In 2021, the second-highest lead cause of death for women in Australia was coronary heart disease, demonstrating just how important it is for us to pay close attention to any risks that increase our likelihood of cardiovascular disease developing. 

Getting familiar with the risk factors associated with heart disease

As with any disease, certain risk factors have clear associations with cardiovascular diseases. The good news is that many of these can be modified by making careful changes to lifestyle habits.

The key risk factors each of us should be carefully monitoring for are:

• Raised blood pressure 
• Increased blood cholesterol 
• Diabetes or pre-diabetes
• Smoking
• Being overweight or obese
• A lack of physical activity
• A family history of heart disease
• Age (with women at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease after the age of 55)

If you’re unsure about your current risks for developing a cardiovascular disease, speaking with your GP can be the first step in reviewing how you can support your heart health throughout menopause and the years beyond.

Symptoms to watch out for

One of the main reasons it can be difficult to identify cardiovascular disease within menopausal women is because of how their symptoms mimic each other’s. Beyond standard menopausal signs, symptoms such as ongoing fatigue, issues breathing, and chest discomfort can all signify the potential for cardiovascular concerns. 

The more aware we are of these symptoms, the more proactive we can be in monitoring our health throughout menopause and beyond. Recognising an early symptom could be the difference between early intervention and a serious, ongoing heart problem. 

How to prevent cardiovascular disease in menopausal women

While there’s no sure way to prevent cardiovascular disease, there are a number of steps menopausal women can take to reduce the likelihood of heart disease developing. These include:

• Making any necessary adjustments to your lifestyle. A balanced diet full of antioxidants that are low in unhealthy foods can be of integral support to your cardiac health throughout menopause. Building in regular exercise and taking part in stress reduction practices, like mindfulness, are also of crucial importance during this life phase. 
• Considering Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). HRT can give some menopausal women powerful support in reducing the impact of menopause’s symptoms, alleviating its negative effect on heart health. Our team can discuss these options with you if you’re seeking support for your own menopause experience. 
• Scheduling in regular heart check-ups. As with all aspects of your health during menopause, building in proactive check-ups is one of the simplest ways to spot problems as early as possible. Your doctor can advise on how regularly your heart should be screened in order to pre-empt any potential issues before they escalate.

How you can participate this World Menopause Day

With World Menopause Day taking place on October 18th, there are a number of ways that you can show your support for this important event, raising awareness about the links between menopause and cardiovascular disease. These include:

1. Prioritising your own health: if you’re a woman approaching or in the midst of menopause, it’s important to educate yourself about the health risks associated with menopause. The blog posts on our website are great sources of information and support for learning about how menopause can impact your health, wellbeing, and risk of developing other diseases.
2. Engaging with your community: you can also engage your wider community to build more awareness about these risks. Spend some time chatting with friends and family members who are also facing menopause themselves, making sure they’re aware of the risks menopause can bring to cardiovascular health. As some of these topics are often taboo, the more we can discuss them, the easier it becomes to endorse positive health outcomes for all women at risk. 
3. Changing lifestyle habits: finally, making small changes to your health and wellbeing can have a powerful, positive effect. Consider how you can embrace heart-healthy habits this World Menopause Day to support yourself and your heart throughout the transitions menopause will bring.

Conclusion

This World Menopause Day, embrace the opportunity we have to learn more about our health, wellbeing, and the steps we can take to protect them through the changes menopause brings. Find ongoing support for every stage of menopause at the Australian Menopause Centre, where we support women across Australia to live to their highest potential throughout each moment of transition and change.