Early menopause does not cause strokes

This is the main new result of a study carried out at the Medical University of Innsbruck, said the epidemiologist and mathematician Lena Tschiderer in an interview. However, an earlier menopause is apparently linked to an increased risk of suffering a stroke, the expert explained.

Tschiderer described the fact that earlier menopause is not the causal reason for an increased risk of stroke with the help of genetic data. The exact reason therefore remains unclear for the time being.

Data from more than 200,000 women after menopause were analyzed under the leadership of the young Tyrolean scientist and the connection between age at the onset of menopause and the risk of stroke occurrence was examined – for both types of stroke, both ischemic and ischemic also for hemorrhagic stroke. Tschiderer has since published the work in the renowned “Journal of the American Heart Association.” In total, data from two large European studies were collected and analyzed in collaboration with the University of Utrecht, Netherlands.

“Women with early menopause have a higher risk of strokes. However, earlier menopause is not the cause. There is apparently no causal connection,” Tschiderer emphasized the significant difference and gave an illustrative everyday comparison example. Eating ice cream more often outdoors in summer when the sun is shining and temperatures are warm is also linked to an increased risk of sunburn. But eating ice cream is not “the reason, the cause” for this.

“The younger, the higher the risk”

However, it has once again been proven that there is a statistical connection between premature menopause and a higher risk of stroke. The same had previously been assumed. “The younger you are, the higher the risk,” says Tschiderer. It has been found that the risk of stroke increases by ten percent for every five years of earlier menopause. “Women who experienced menopause before the age of 40, i.e. very early, had a 42 percent higher risk of stroke than those who experienced menopause between the ages of 50 and 55,” the expert emphasized.

Now it is important to research the actual reason for the increased risk. “I think that the cause will be known sooner or later,” said the epidemiologist optimistically. In any case, we already have “approaches” to ultimately decipher this. For example, it is planned to “analyze data on different proteins” that are available from Great Britain. Originally, it was assumed in science that estrogens were “behind it”. But studies show that this is probably not the case.

In any case, stroke prevention in women with premature menopause is extremely important, emphasized Tschiderer. In these cases, it is important to minimize “other risk factors”, especially through a healthy lifestyle.

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