Younger women with PCOS at elevated risk for CVD
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Women younger than 50 years with polycystic ovary syndrome were at elevated risk for CVD compared with younger women without it, according to a research letter published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
However, there was no evidence of a link between polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and CVD in women aged 50 years or older.
“Heart health appears to be a particular problem for young women with PCOS,” Clare Oliver-Williams, PhD, junior research fellow in the cardiovascular epidemiology unit in the department of public health and primary care at the University of Cambridge, U.K., said in a press release. “This may be because they are more likely to be overweight and have high blood pressure and diabetes compared to their peers.”
For the retrospective study, the researchers assessed 60,574 women (median age at baseline, 33 years) who appeared in a Danish assisted reproductive technology cohort from 1994 to 2015. The women were followed from their first assisted reproductive technology visit until CVD onset, death, emigration from Denmark or the end of 2015, whichever came first. Median follow-up was 8.9 years.
Among the cohort, 10.2% had PCOS at baseline and 4.8% developed CVD during follow-up, Oliver-Williams and colleagues wrote.
After adjustment for age, women with PCOS were at greater risk for CVD than women without it (adjusted HR = 1.2; 95% CI, 1.08-1.34), and the difference persisted after further adjustment for year of first assisted reproductive technology treatment, baseline parity, gestational diabetes, relationship status and education (aHR = 1.19; 95% CI, 1.07-1.33), and in a sensitivity analysis adjusting for BMI, smoking and alcohol use (aHR = 1.49; 95% CI, 1.04-2.06), according to the researchers.
In women aged 50 years or older, there was no difference in CVD risk between those who had PCOS and those who did not, the researchers wrote.
“As women without PCOS get older, they increasingly become overweight and develop high blood pressure and diabetes,” Oliver-Williams said in the release. “In a negative sense, they catch up to their peers with PCOS. Some PCOS symptoms are only present during the reproductive years, so it’s possible that the raised chance of heart disease might disappear later in life.”
She said lifestyle changes can help reduce CVD risk in women with PCOS.
“Polycystic ovary syndrome isn’t a life sentence — there are many ways to stay heart healthy,” Oliver-Williams said in the release. “Small changes add up, like eating more fruits and vegetables and doing more exercise.”
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