Who Is At Risk for Coronary Microvascular Disease?
Women at high risk for coronary microvascular
disease (MVD) often have multiple risk factors for
atherosclerosis.
(See "What Causes Coronary Microvascular
Disease?" for a detailed list of these risk factors.)
Women may be at risk for coronary MVD if they have
low levels of estrogen at any point in their adult lives. (This refers to the
estrogen that the ovaries produce, not the estrogen used in hormone replacement
therapy.)
- After menopause, women tend to have more of the
traditional risk factors for atherosclerosis, putting them at higher risk for
coronary MVD.
- Lower than normal estrogen levels in women before
menopause also can put younger women at higher risk for coronary MVD. One cause
of low estrogen levels in younger women is mental stress. Another is a problem
with the function of the ovaries.
Women who have
high
blood pressure before menopause, especially high systolic blood pressure,
are at higher risk for coronary MVD. (Systolic blood pressure is the top or
first number of a blood pressure measurement).
Women with heart disease have an increased risk for
a worse outcome, such as a
heart
attack, if they also have
anemia.
Anemia is thought to slow the growth of cells needed to repair damaged blood
vessels. |