Early medically induced menopause may increase cardiovascular risks
News briefs
- Reviewed by Robert H. Shmerling, MD, Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
For premenopausal women, surgery, chemotherapy, and other medical treatments that remove the ovaries or shut down their function don’t just plunge these women into early menopause. These therapies also may increase the women’s long-term risks of cardiovascular disease, especially when this “iatrogenic” (treatment-related) menopause occurs before age 45, according to an analysis published online Oct. 2, 2026, by JAMA Network Open.
Researchers reviewed 36 earlier studies involving 2,617,942 women. The analysis provided an opportunity to compare women who experienced medically induced menopause to women who did not receive any therapy that affected age of menopause. In the studies, women were tracked for an average of 16 years. After adjusting results for age, the researchers found that women with medically induced menopause were 25% more likely to have a cardiovascular problem such as a heart attack, 48% likelier to develop coronary heart disease over the study period, and 22% more likely to have a stroke. Strikingly, women who had medically induced menopause before age 45 faced 20% higher risks of dying of cardiovascular problems than women who went through natural menopause. The younger a woman was when her ovarian function was abruptly lost, the greater the apparent long-term cardiovascular concern, study authors said — particularly when menopause occurred well before the usual average age of 51.
Women facing ovary-removal surgery or other treatments that cause menopause before age 45 should consider the intervention to be an additional risk factor for cardiovascular disease along with standard risk factors such as high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, high blood sugar, and smoking, says Dr. Robert Shmerling, a senior faculty editor and editorial advisory board member at Harvard Health Publishing. “The findings raise the question of whether hormone therapy after early menopause might be helpful to prevent premature cardiovascular disease,” he notes. “We’ll need additional research to answer that.”
Image: © andreswd/Getty Images
About the Author
Maureen Salamon, Executive Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch
About the Reviewer
Robert H. Shmerling, MD, Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
Disclaimer:
As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles.
No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
