[Click! Health] "Blood Lipid Levels Increase 3 to 5 Years Before Menopause"

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A study has found that women's blood lipid levels begin to rise even before menopause. Blood lipid levels refer to the concentrations of cholesterol, triglycerides, and other lipids in the blood, and higher levels increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, middle-aged women approaching menopause should maintain consistent health management, such as regular exercise and a balanced diet, even before menopause.

According to research published on the 27th by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's National Institute of Health in the official journal of the Korean Medical Association, Journal of Korean Medical Science (JKMS), the researchers confirmed that blood lipid levels in middle-aged women increase most significantly from 3 to 5 years before menopause until 1 year after menopause. This was based on an analysis of 18 years of follow-up data from 1,436 premenopausal women participating in a community-based cohort study.

Until now, the medical community has known that postmenopausal women have a higher risk of hyperlipidemia and cardiovascular diseases, but there was insufficient evidence about when changes in blood lipid levels begin.

According to the study, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, known to increase the risk of atherosclerosis, rose by an average of 2.95 mg/dL per year from 5 years before menopause until 1 year after menopause. Additionally, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, which helps prevent atherosclerosis, also tended to increase from 3 years before menopause until 1 year after menopause. However, considering the rate of increase in cholesterol, the changes shifted in a direction that raises the risk of atherosclerosis.

The researchers emphasized the importance of health management during the menopausal transition based on this study. The menopausal transition is the period during which women experience various physiological changes along with changes in their menstrual cycles until they reach complete menopause. Park Hyun-young, director of the National Institute of Health, urged, “Since various physical and mental health indicators in middle-aged women change as they approach menopause, consistent health management is necessary even before menopause.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.