Are Premature and Early Menopause Risk Factors for Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke?

To study the relation between nonfatal coronary heart disease or stroke and age at spontaneous menopause (defined as premature [before age 40]; early (range, 40–44); relatively early [range, 45–49]; reference group [range, 50–51]), researchers analyzed pooled data from >300,000 participants without prior hysterectomy or oophorectomy in 15 observational studies. Hazard ratios (HRs) were adjusted for body-mass index, smoking status, hypertension, postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT), education, and ethnicity. In this cohort, mean and median ages at menopause were 50.2 years and 50.0 years, respectively.

Compared with the reference group, premature menopause (HR, 1.52), early menopause (HR, 1.30), and relatively early menopause (HR, 1.13) were a…