Postmenopausal patients, whose arteries are clogged, are more likely to have a heart attack and would therefore need stronger treatment than men.
- In women, a delay of about 12 years in the onset of atherosclerosis has been observed.
- The patients’ coronary arteries would be narrower.
- “After menopause, they might need a higher dose of statins or the addition of another lipid-lowering drug,” the authors say.
After menopause, women with atherosclerosis should benefit from more powerful treatment, according to researchers at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. To reach this conclusion, they carried out a study with 24,950 people, who were followed for almost four years.
Atherosclerosis: women suffer from it about 12 years later than men
As part of the work, the scientists asked them to do CT coronary angiography to look at their arteries. They evaluated the total atherosclerotic burden: the presence of plaque, the composition (calcified, non-calcified or mixed), the location and the severity of the narrowing.
The authors also analyzed gender differences in rates of major cardiovascular events, which included all-cause death and myocardial infarction, after adjusting for age and cardiovascular risk factors (hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, smoking and family history of coronary heart disease).
According to the results, published in the journal European Heart Journal Cardiovascular Imaging, a delay of about 12 years in the onset of atherosclerosis was observed in women. The age at which the median risk score was greater than zero was 64 to 68 years in women versus 52 to 56 years in men. In addition, overall plaque load was significantly lower in women, who had more non-obstructive disease.
“The internal diameter of the coronary arteries is smaller in women”
According to the team, postmenopausal women are at a higher risk of suffering major cardiovascular events, such as heart attack or death. “This could be partly explained by the fact that the internal diameter of the coronary arteries is smaller in women, which means that the same amount of plaque can have a greater impact on blood flow”, explained Sophie van Rosendael, author of the research, in a statement.
“As the burden of atherosclerotic plaque becomes a target for deciding the intensity of therapy to prevent heart attacks, the study may have an impact on treatment. Our results indicate that after menopause, women may need a higher dose of statins or the addition of another lipid-lowering drug. Further research is needed to confirm these data.” concluded the researcher.