Analysis of lipid status, body mass index and waist-hip ratio in post-menopausal women

Abstract

Introduction: Menopause is the absence of menses in the period longer that one year. It is widely accepted that menopause leads to changes in hormonal status, metabolism and lipid profi le. The aim of this study was
to analyze the infl uence of menopause on the concentrations of lipids, lipoproteins and also the influence of body mass index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio (WHR) on lipid profi le in post-menopausal women.
Methods: Sixty post-menopausal women of average age of 52.82 years were compared to a group of 34 pre-menopausal women average age of 47.92 years.
Results: Post-menopausal women had higher, but non signifi cant (p>0.05) concentrations of total cholesterol, very low density lipoproteins (VLDL), low density lipoproteins (LDL) and triglycerides than pre-menopausal women. The concentration of high density lipoproteins (HDL) was significantly lower in post-menopausal women than pre-menopausal (p<0.05). The concentration of apolipoprotein B was also signifi cantly higher in post-menopausal women (p<0.05), but the concentrations of apolipoprotein and lipoprotein (a) were lower
but without signifi cance (p>0.05). There was no difference between body mass index (BMI) and waste-hip ratio (WHR), but the WHR has shown as a signifi cant predictor of the LDL and cholesterol concentrations in
post-menopausal women.
Conclusion: We can conclude that menopause leads to changes in lipid profi le by lowering of HDL and increasing the levels of apolipoprotein B, that increases the risk for cardiovascular disease. The WHR is the
signifi cant predictor of cardiovascular risk in post-menopausal women.