Strong social support may reduce cardiovascular disease risk in postmenopausal women

Study based on Women's Health Initiative data demonstrates relationship between psychological factors and health in postmenopausal women

Having good friends can save your life, as a study based on data from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) demonstrates how strong social support may reduce the risk of death from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in postmenopausal women. Study results are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS).

Although rates of CVD morbidity and mortality have declined in recent decades, CVD remains a primary cause of death in Americans. Traditionally thought of as primarily a man's disease, women's rates of CVD have nearly caught up to men's rates (35.9% of American women have CVD vs 37.4% of men).

With so many people affected by CVD, there has been tremendous research on its various risk factors (although much of the focus to date has been on traditional risk factors such as smoking and hypertension). A few studies have focused on the effect of social support, but this recent study is the largest to date to evaluate the effect of social support on CVD and all-cause mortality in women.

After nearly 11 years of follow-up with participants in the WHI, researchers concluded that in women free of CVD at baseline, perceived social support is associated with a slightly lower risk of all-cause mortality. Although the association is described as modest, it remains significant. No major association was observed in women with a history of CVD. The researchers hypothesized that these results demonstrate the benefits of social support in either promoting stress relief or helping to buffer stressful life events. However, they have indicated that further clarification and investigation are necessary.

Study results appear in the article "Perceived social support and the risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study."

"This study found a small but significant association between perceived social support and mortality in women without prior cardiovascular disease," says Dr. JoAnn Pinkerton, NAMS executive director. "If psychological or social support can help prevent heart disease in women, we need further studies to determine what support would be most helpful."

Source: http://www.menopause.org/

Comments

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of News Medical.
Post a new comment
Post

While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. We do not provide medical advice, if you search for medical information you must always consult a medical professional before acting on any information provided.

Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles.

Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Read the full Terms & Conditions.

You might also like...
Study reveals variability in polygenic risk scores for predicting heart disease