Early menopause increases heart failure risk, especially for smokers
Wednesday, May 14, 2014 - 18:32
in Health & Medicine
Women who go through menopause early -- at ages 40 to 45 -- have a higher rate of heart failure, according to a new study. Smoking, current or past, raises the rate even more. The authors' analysis of the data showed that women who went through menopause naturally at this early age had a rate of heart failure some 40% higher than women who went through menopause the usual age between 50 and 54. (The average is 51.) And for every one-year increase in age at menopause, the rate of heart failure was 2% lower.