Menopausal Status and Physical Activity Are Independently Associated With Cardiovascular Risk Factors of Healthy Middle-Aged Women: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Evidence

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the primary cause of mortality in women in developed countries. CVD risk rises with age, yet for women there is a rapid increase in CVD risk that occurs after the onset of menopause. This observation suggests the presence of factors in the middle-aged women that accelerate the progression of CVD independent of chronological aging. Leisure time physical activity (LTPA) is a well-established protective factor against CVD. However, its role in attenuating atherogenic lipid profile changes and CVD risk in post-menopausal women has not been well-established. The present study is part of the Estrogenic Regulation of Muscle Apoptosis (ERMA) study, a population-based cohort study in which middle-aged Caucasian women (47–55) were classified into pre-menopausal, peri-menopausal, and post-menopausal groups based on follicle stimulating hormone levels and bleeding patterns. Comprehensive questionnaires, laboratory visits, anthropometric measurements, and physical activity monitoring by accelerometers were used to characterize the menopausal groups and serum lipid profiles were analyzed to quantify CV (cardiovascular) risk factors. Based on our findings, LTPA may attenuate menopause-associated atherogenic changes in the serum CV risk factors of healthy middle-aged women. However, LTPA does not seem to entirely offset the lipid profile changes associated with the menopausal transition.