Soundbite Episode 005: The Silent Risk - Protecting Your Heart Through the Menopause Transition

Perimenopause and menopause are about more than hot flashes and mood changes—they’re also a critical time to assess long-term health risks. In this episode, Dr. Angela explains why cardiovascular disease risk rises during the menopause transition, often silently, and why women should know their blood pressure, cholesterol, ApoB, Lipoprotein(a), and overall metabolic health. She also shares practical prevention steps and why the most important intervention may sometimes be reducing heart attack or stroke risk—not just treating symptoms.

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Hey, this is Dr. Angela, the host of Lifestyle MD Podcast. And this soundbite episode is about
perimenopause and cardiovascular risk in women. Today, I had the pleasure of sitting on a panel
with three other colleagues in the healthcare field. We talked about perimenopause and menopause.
One of the things that came up that I think is really important to drive home is that there's more
to perimenopause and menopause than just hot flashes and mood swings and sleep disruption.
bone loss and weight gain, cardiovascular disease is still a leading cause of death in men and
women. Our risk dramatically increases during this time period. So you may be having a very mild
transition with very few symptoms and kind of like sailing through, doing great with lifestyle
modification, not necessarily having a need for HRT or any over-the-counter or prescription
medications. That's beautiful. Don't forget to check in with your physician about your
cardiovascular disease risk. Don't forget to check in with your physician about your bone health.
Don't forget that these things are still issues and they happen silently. So some things that you
need to make sure that you are staying up to date on throughout your entire adult life. Making sure
you're seeing your doctor at least once a year to get your blood pressure checked. Know your
cholesterol numbers. Get an apolipoprotein. B, a lipoprotein A. I talked about that in a previous
Soundbite episode. Make sure you're engaging in regular physical activity, exercise, stress
management, good nutritious diet. You need to have your cardiovascular risk score calculated using
a new prevent tool. Consider coronary calcium score. Know what your risk is because the most
important intervention for you during the menopause transition may not be HRT.
It may be reducing your risk of a heart attack or stroke. If you have not had that conversation
with your physician, make sure you are staying up to date on all of your preventive maintenance and
that you know what your risk is and you're doing everything in your power to prevent it. Hope that
was helpful. Be sure to follow my podcast, The Lifestyle MD, for more practical whole person health
tips and share with someone whom you think may benefit from listening.