Approaching Menopause? Get A Cholesterol Check
A new report highlights a lack of awareness amongst women and health professionals about the link between the menopause and raised cholesterol.
It is a fact that at the onset of menopause, cholesterol levels rise due to the natural decline of the hormone oestrogen within the body.
This increase in cholesterol puts women at greater risk from cardiovascular disease (CVD) and stroke, making them four times more likely to contract heart disease in the 10 years after the menopause, than they were before.
Up until the menopause, oestrogen is a girl’s best friend, protecting against osteoporosis by maintaining bone density, and elevated cholesterol by increasing the good HDL cholesterol within the body, and reducing the bad LDL cholesterol. But as this hormone declines, so does women’s natural protection, leaving them as susceptible to heart disease as men.
CVD is predominantly thought of as a male-disease which preys on stressed, overweight, middle-aged men, but it actually kills more women than any other health condition, and is responsible for 57% of all female deaths. British women are nine times more likely to die of CVD than breast cancer, yet the sad fact is 80% of all cardiovascular disease is preventable with diet and lifestyle changes.
Check For Change
The research, taken from the Flora pro.activ Check for Change report, is the most comprehensive study into menopause and raised cholesterol ever commissioned. Endorsed by the World Heart Federation and H.E.A.R.T. UK, the report reveals that 76% of the 500 women aged 45-65 surveyed did not associate the menopause with raised cholesterol levels. Their main anxieties were about the symptoms associated with menopause, plus the risk of breast cancer and osteoporosis.
Go For A Cholesterol Test If You Experience:
- Irregular periods
- Changes in body fat distribution, from pear shape to apple shape
- Depressed mood and anxiety
- Night sweats and hot flushes
- Decline in Libido
- Vaginal dryness, painful intercourse, bladder changes
- Osteoporosis
Of greater concern is the apparent inadequate screening of women by health professionals. Only 15% of the 150 health care professionals questioned said they rank menopausal women at equal risk of CVD to men, and less than half (46%) say they include a cholesterol check in their most frequent advice to women over 45, compared to 81% who advise self-checks for breast cancer. Currently, it is not routine for GPs to offer a cholesterol test when women ask for HRT.
Flora is urging women to take charge of their health, and make sure they Check for Change themselves by taking a simple cholesterol test and making appropriate diet and lifestyle changes to monitor their cholesterol.
Physical menopause symptoms such as night sweats, hot flushes, mood swings and vaginal dryness are indicators of a silent metabolic change taking place within the body. Women in developed countries can live up to a third of their lives post-menopause, so early prevention is essential for maintaining a long and healthy life.
“The menopause should be a wake up call to think about our long-term health,” Dr Heather Currie, founder and MD of Menopause Matters Ltd and Associate Specialist Gynaecologist and Obstetrician at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary in Scotland, tells 50connect.
‘It’s time to put the cholesterol risk to heart health on the map as heart disease is killing more women than the next five causes of death put together - breast cancer included. It is clear that routine cholesterol checks and better education are paramount in preventing unnecessary deaths from heart disease.”
Take Action Today
Studies estimate that on average, lowering cholesterol by 10% will reduce the risk of heart disease by 20%, and this is relatively simple with the following diet and lifestyle changes.
- Stop smoking
- Avoid trans-fats and triglycerides. Reduce your intake of saturated fats.
- Eat at least 5 portions or fruit and veg a day
- Eat porridge every morning. Oats contain beta-gluten which reduces cholesterol by 2-5% when eaten daily.
- Do more exercise. Start swimming, dancing, walking, aerobics, yoga – anything that gets your heart pumping.
- Increase your intake of plant sterols by using Flora pro.activ products including the spread, yoghurts, yoghurt drinks and milk.
Experts agree that the most effective way to reduce cholesterol is with plant sterols of stanols. They work by reducing the absorption of bad LDL cholesterol from the intestine, without affecting the good HDL cholesterol.
Eating 2 – 2.5g a day of plant sterols can lower cholesterol by 10-15% within 2 weeks, when combined with a healthy diet and lifestyle. Although present in all fruit and vegetables, in order to consume 2g a day, one would need to eat 150 apples or 425 carrots so a fortified food like Flora pro.activ is a simple and effective way to up your intake and reduce bad cholesterol.
Gloria Hunniford is spearheading the Check for Change campaign and has noticed for herself, how easy it is to reduce cholesterol using plant sterols.
“My first husband died of a heart attack, and Stephen, my second husband had a heart attack ten years ago which is why I am genuinely delighted to be involved in the Flora campaign. I have an underactive thyroid which means my cholesterol is always a little high, but I have been religiously drinking my Flora pro.activ drink daily, and doing a little more exercise. After a few weeks my cholesterol is 5.2, which is the lowest it has ever been and as near to the perfect mark than ever before. Stephen's cholesterol was 8 but is now at its lowest at 4, which really surprised me.”
Join The Campaign
Flora pro.activ are urging women to take charge of their health and reduce their cholesterol. Buy two Flora pro.activ products, and take the receipts to a Lloydspharmacy to obtain your free heart and cholesterol check.
The test takes around five minutes to complete and is painless. A small prick is made on the side of the middle finger and a small sample of blood is taken and put into a machine. Whilst it analyses your cholesterol levels, the pharmacist will take your blood pressure. A print out with your results is given when you leave.
Follow a healthy diet, alter your lifestyle to include more exercise and drink a Flora pro.activ drink daily. Then re-test your cholesterol in 3 to 4 weeks, and see how much it has reduced.
Flora pro.activ products are available as spread, mini-yoghurt drinks, yoghurts and skimmed milk.
Find your nearest participating Lloydspharamcy: http://www.checkforchange.co.uk/StoreLocator.aspx
You can also read more about Gloria Hunniford in our interview feature.
Have Your Say
Were you aware of the link between cholesterol and the menopause? Are you going to get your cholesterol tested and take the Flora pro.activ challenge? If so, we want to hear from you. Share you experiences with others through the comment boxes below.
Words: Rachael Hannan
Have your say...
Does anyone have the feeling that they going to have their monthly period and they don't
hi i am 50 and have been getting menopause symtoms for about three months... i'm not pregnant but i constantly feel like i've got morning sickness... is this also a symptom?
hi i am 28 i do not know if i am too young to get menopause but i keep getting hot flushes, put on weight but not eating a lot of wrong things, love my fruit and veg, also do not eat late. have now missed 3 periods big change in mood swings and i know i am not pregnant and always have periods on time
I heard about this free test and went to my local Tesco store but was not sure which products to purchase to qualify. I asked staff at Tesco but they or their managers knew nothing of the scheme. I'm surprised they are not promoting this very worthwhile health initiative.
Hello, I'm 47 and my periods have been getting shorter and lighter for about a year, although still pretty regular. Now I've missed two periods but feel very pre-menstrual, sore breasts and irritable etc. I've done 3 pregnancy tests but all negative (I've got a two year old son so did wonder if I could be pregnant again!). It's helpful to know that other women are having similar experiences.
I have just realised that the insanity I have been through for the last five years is probably due to the fact that i have been menopausal - nothing was ever suggested to me, and yet the symptoms are loud and clear...My dr. gave me the results of the tests and I asked him if they meant that i could not have children. He said yes, and that was it a few days back. I am devastated, and 40..Although now i know this , the earlier symptoms i experienced seven or eight years ago, the irregular periods etc, are probably linked. And i was never shy in telling any of the doctors i saw about these problems. Help.
hi i'm 50 years old and have been treat for depression for the last six months and anti depressants don't seem to be helping. i am now convinced i haven't got depression but i have most of the symtoms of going through the menopause. why hasn't my doctor offered me HRT instead of anti depressants help!
i have been on hrt for over 20 years it does nothing for depression. i have had to have tablets for depression as well. hrt does nothing for depression that's why you were not offered it.
Hi, from what I have read I have seen it worthy thanking you for your good advice. This is so because as a student having a mother aged 45 years, I have been able to read and understand what she is suffering from. She has all signs and symptoms you have talked about and her backbones are losing their density as shown in a report from the hospital. Please thank you. I will try to talk to her and find means of overcoming the problem. Pray for me.
Hi i am 39 just turned and i'm on the border line for the change, my periods are pretty irratic my period lasts for approx 12 days as before only five days i have night sweats and hot flushes throughout the day i have been prescribed patches but i have heard that they may cause weight problems so i haven't taken them at the moment i'm feeling desperate and need some information does anyone out there going through the same problems and have they found out any product that can help.
Donna have you thought about getting your thyroid checked, it could be overactive.
i am 41 and just been told by doctor that i could be pre-menopausal.i have had extreme tiredness for 5 months so i had my annual thyroid function test as i take thyroxine, it came back ok. the symptoms are very similar. i have aching joints,especially legs and feet.i have had a few night hot flushes. given no advice by doctor,asked pharmacist about supplements but can't take much due to interaction with thyroxine. vit b recommended
hi i think am on the menopause not too sure i have been depressed for 16 years on and off, always had heavy periods but the past few months i've felt great my periods have got lighter, also i don't feel very depressed i can't understand it, can the menopause go the other way? i am 44
Hi,i am 50 and i am suffering from mood swings,really bad anxiety and find i am very tearful just now.No periods for about 3 and a half years.I can't see it being anything else but the menopause.Still can't do anything about it yet as i am suffering from stomach ulcers,Also have had high blood pressure for the past 13 years.Right now feel umwanted, unloved and just pushed away by everyone and anyone.
Hi I have been feeling unwell for awhile, started my menopause at 42 now 50 in June, so knew I had and was still going through it, although thanks to a variety of herbs no Hrt FOR ME. I have now managed to cope with it. However went to my doc not the best, who took bloodtests and said my cholesterol was very high. worried i let her know that my dad had died at 56 from a heart attack, she said not to worry and sent me home, oh she suggested a B vitimain. I am convinced i have had some kind of slight stroke due to symptoms. i Now read that high cholestrol could be connected to the menopause. I think we really need to highlight this further and let our practioners know that they need to take this more seriously, for me I went home feeling scared, for my future. On my way back to the doctors to stand my groundx
hi, i'm fifty in two weeks , my perods are erratic, i have night sweats, insomnia, mood swings and some days my mood makes me want to fall out with myself, do u think i'm getting into the menopause
Hi I have just been told by my doctor that i am suffering from the menopause and i am only 44 years old. I have been sufferng with back pains and work related stress for the last eight months. Since the start of the year i have joined the gym ,started swimming and aqua-robics which has helped a little, but i still constantly feel like i am on my period which i haven't had now for nearly 11 weeks. Is there anything else that i can do, as i feel very low at this time.
hi, I'm 47 I have very heavy periods. sometimes they are heavy and short other times they are very light and last for days. My moods are all over the place.One moment I'm happy the next i will bite someone's head off over the slightest thing. This has been going on since I turned Forty and it is getting worse. Does this sound like I'm reaching menopause?
i'm 21 and have not had a period for about 6 months and i know i'm not pregnant i have been getting hot sweats a lot can u tell me if i'm going through the menopause please i would be very grateful
hi i'm 48 been on my menopause for 2 years and i am on ymea it is so good it works for me it maintain balance and harmony and i feel so well i take 2 a day
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