Does Menopause Occurring Later In Life Lead To Better Vascular Health?
Julia Palka
February 2025
Menopause is the dreaded cycle of hormonal imbalance, hot flashes, and discomfort. Women of all ages know it will manifest in various stages, with different symptoms and degrees of abruptness. However, first, we must all face the monthly gift of menstruation, but new findings show that if your body’s natural clock is a little late to the initial onset of menopausal symptoms (55 or older), you may have a significantly decreased risk of cardiovascular events!
According to newly published research from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Women who go through menopause at later ages in life have healthier blood vessels than women who go through it earlier. The research, published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation Research1 arrived just in time for February, which is Women’s Heart Health Month. The findings can help pave the way to new research and advancements in therapies and treatments aimed at reducing heart disease, the leading cause of death in women.
The new insights show that females who stop menstruating at 55 or older are suggested to have a significantly lower risk of heart attacks and cardiovascular events during their postmenopausal years over women who stop menstruation below 55 years of age. To support this claim, studies write that women 55 or older are actually 20% less likely to develop ailments like heart disease than those 54 and younger. Sanna Darvish, a PhD candidate in the Department of Integrative Physiology at the University of Colorado at Boulder is part of a study assessing the vascular health of 92 women and how well their brachial artery dilates with increased blood flow. Darvish and her colleagues also measured the women’s mitochondrial health in relation to the cells lining the women’s blood vessels. The mitochondria, which is considered the powerhouse of energy in the human body, helped the researchers determine what molecules were present in the women’s blood streams.
The study proved that all the postmenopausal women had significantly worse function in their arteries than women who had not yet experienced menopause3. This is because, as women age, they produce less nitric oxide, a chemical compound that helps prevent plaque build up and stiffness as it dilates the blood vessels. The mitochondria in the cells lining the blood vessels also become more dysfunctional with age and generate free radicals; highly reactive and unstable molecules produced naturally by the human body.
When women go through menopause, the age related decline in cardiovascular health is accelerated. However, the 10% of women who experience a late onset of menopausal symptoms are seemingly less affected by this predicament. Darvish’s study found that vascular function was only 24% worse in the women who experienced menopause later in life compared to the premenopausal women. In contrast those in the normal onset stage had a 51% decline in vascular health. The differences between the groups occurred 5 years or more after the women went through menopause, where remarkably the late onset group had a reported 44% better vascular function than the normal onset group.
The success of maintaining better vascular health in the late onset group was linked to the women’s better functioning of mitochondria, which decreased the amount of free radicals produced. The circulating blood in the late onset group also generated more favorable levels of different lipid metabolites in their blood. Darvash and her team will next study how early onset menopause might impact heart health and how certain nutritional supplements marketed as targeting free radicals in the blood vessels may reduce heart disease in women at higher risks. Future research is still necessary to solidify the gaps between the studies currently published, and how and if all women will experience the same prognosis. John Hopkins Medicine says; If cardiovascular disease runs strongly in the family, it’s also important that you see a cardiologist to further assess the likelihood of having cardiovascular disease and to optimize treatment. 2 In summary, the important research provided from the University of Colorado at Boulder suggests that women who experience menopause at 55 or older have healthier blood vessels and a 20% lower risk of heart disease compared to those with earlier menopause. This is linked to better mitochondrial function, reduced free radicals, and improved vascular health, highlighting potential new avenues for cardiovascular disease prevention in women.
References:
Darvish, S., et al. (2025). Preservation of vascular endothelial function in late-onset postmenopausal women. Circulation Research. https://doi.org/10.1161/circresaha.124.325639
Hopkins Medicine. (n.d.). Menopause and the cardiovascular system. Retrieved February 14, 2025, from https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/menopause-and-the-cardiovascular-system#:~:text=Plus%2C%20studies%20that%20have%20followed,normal%20age%20(around%2050)
News-Medical. (2025, February 4). Late menopause linked to better vascular health in women. News-Medical. Retrieved from https://www.news-medical.net/news/20250204/Late-menopause-linked-to-better-vascular-health-in-women.aspx
