Article: Early Menopause May RaiseRisk for Brain Aneurysm

This is an edited posting about this article. Carole suggested, correctly, that perhaps some of the information we posted should be posted as a private group. I deleted the previos post, but am leaving the article and links to other articles about estrogen levels and aneurysms. I'll check with Ginny about how to post this as a private group.

Thanks all!

JulieNH

An interesting article....I'm not sure I agree with it since it states " Smoking did not appear to affect aneurysm risk, while alcohol consumption upped risk slightly." From all my research, I firmly believe that smoking is a HUGE risk factor for aneurysms.

JulieNH

Early Menopause May Raise Risk for Brain Aneurysm

Published: June 12, 2012 9:29 AM -- Mary Elizabeth Dallas

Photos

Early menopause may be associated with an increased risk of brain aneurysm, new research suggests.

The study by researchers from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago included 76 postmenopausal women who had a brain aneurysm, or an abnormal bulging of an artery in the brain. Aneurysms are serious. If the bulge leaks or ruptures, it can lead to stroke or death.

About 26 percent of the women who had an aneurysm experienced menopause by age 40, compared with about 19 percent in a comparison group of women who didn't have an aneurysm.

Every four-year increase in the age at which a woman went through menopause was associated with a 21 percent decreased risk of aneurysm.

The study was published online June 11 in the Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery.

While the study found an association between early menopause and brain aneurysm, it did not prove that early menopause causes the condition. In addition, the study was retrospective, meaning that it started with women who had an aneurysm and looked back for factors that may have influenced risk.

In the study, researchers asked women about their medical history, including whether they had high blood pressure, diabetes, an underactive thyroid or high cholesterol, which can increase the risk of stroke.

The women were also asked about their reproductive history, including how many pregnancies they had and their age when their periods began, to determine how much estrogen they were exposed to during their lifetime.

The study found the average age women started menopause was similar for both groups.

But going through menopause later in life and hormone replacement therapy were both associated with a decreased risk for aneurysm.

Smoking did not appear to affect aneurysm risk, while alcohol consumption upped risk slightly.

Researchers said lower levels of estrogen that are associated with early menopause may explahttp://health.msn.com/health-topics/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=...

Here are a few more linking Estrogen and Aneurysms. You'll note that some cite dropping levels, some cite higher levels or flutuating....I think the researchers are still in discussions....

http://www.rush.edu/rumc/page-1285684914774.html

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100730191708.htm (oral contraceptives)

http://www.jyi.org/news/nb.php?id=3670

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16381192

http://ts-si.org/healthcare/29812-estrogen-shows-protection-against...

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/health&id=7632566 (video discussing fluctuations of Estrogen levels)

in the added risk of aneurysm.

More information

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Servives provides more information on early menopause.

Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved

Well this is interesting to me as I just turned 34 on June 8 and on May 14th I survived a ruptured brain aneurysm. In July of 2007 I had a total hysterectomy (took ovaries and everything) which sent me into early menopause. I have 2 more aneurysms that they are waiting to treat but I have to heal from the ruptured one first and wait for blood to get off my brain. My doctors and I are all trying to figure out why I suffered this ruptured aneurysm at such a young age so this information is quite interesting to me. I was a smoker (have not had one since May 14th) but do not drink at all. thanks for this information it is definitely something I will be researching more into.

God Bless you all

Missy