A new study appearing in the May 22, 2014, on-line edition of
the
Journal of Lipid Research, has
shown that low levels of the hormone estradiol during menopause can increase a
woman’s risk for developing heart disease. The study suggests that there may be
value in evaluating the quality of cholesterol carriers in women early in
menopause (
Lipoprotein
subclasses and endogenous sex hormones in women at midlife).
In the study, researchers measured the size, distribution,
and concentration of different types of lipoproteins that carry cholesterol in
the blood. They discovered that decreasing levels of estradiol were associated with
higher concentrations of low-quality LDL and HDL particles. The study evaluated
120 women, who were on average 50 years old and not on hormone replacement
therapy. According to the lead investigator, Samar R. El Khoudary, an assistant
professor in the University of Pittsburg Graduate School of Health, these
results “underscore the importance of having clinicians aware of these risk
factors and prepared to work with their patient to help them best mitigate
these risks.”
Previous studies have evaluated the link between levels of
female hormones and cholesterol carriers in women experiencing menopause, but
these studies did not examine the quality of the cholesterol carrier molecules.
The study’s authors stress that these results are by no means definitive, and that
another study with a larger sample size is needed to link fluctuations in
female hormone levels and the quality of cholesterol carriers with heart
disease.
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Solutions® for hormones monitored by LC-MS/MS in pregnancy or female
health such as estradiol, progesterone, estriol, estrone, and
17α-ethynylestradiol. These certified solutions are suitable for MS-based
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