Natural menopause occurs during the early 50s of a woman’s life. The last
two decades life expectancy for men and women has risen nationwide. This supports
the hypothesis that women may live more than 30 years after the onset of menopause.
The decline of estrogens production leads to various, usually annoying, vasomotor
symptoms, to other conditions such as obesity, urogenital atrophy, cognition
disturbances and eventually to an increased risk for developing degenerative diseases
like osteoporosis, cardiovascular and others. The differences observed in the lipid
profile of peri- or post-menopausal women are not only due to the decline levels of
estradiol and raised levels of estrone, but also due to the changes of body weight.
Central obesity, usually observed in peri- and post-menopausal women is associated
with elevated plasma triglycerides and low HDL cholesterol concentrations. The
organic system, which is affected significantly by menopause, is the cardiovascular
one. Alterations in the cardiovascular system due to the rapid decline in endogenous
estrogens production will be discussed.
Keywords: Ageing, Blood Glucose, Blood Pressure, Body Composition,
Estrogens, Lipid Metabolism, Menopause, Postprandial hypertriglyceridemia.
