Research

Hormonal

Endothelial function, measured by flow-mediated dilation, progressively declines across the stages of the menopause transition, independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors and age.

For women in the perimenopausal and postmenopausal stages, maintaining cardiovascular health requires extra attention to vascular markers like blood pressure and cholesterol, as the protective effect of estrogen declines. This period is a critical window for lifestyle interventions to preserve endothelial function and reduce long-term cardiovascular risk.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Our findings suggest that a decline in endothelial function begins during the early stages of menopause (perimenopause) and worsens with the loss of ovarian function and prolonged estrogen deficiency.
Kerrie L. Moreau et al. · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · 2012

Why this rating

Cross-sectional study with a relatively large sample size (n=132) and rigorous control for confounders, but lacks longitudinal causality.

Source

Endothelial Function Is Impaired across the Stages of the Menopause Transition in Healthy Women

Kerrie L. Moreau et al. · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · 2012

DOI 10.1210/jc.2012-2244

cross_sectional · n=132Cited 334×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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