You could spend roughly 30 years of your life — or more — living with menopause. That’s why it’s important to take hold of your heart health, says Shufelt. Here’s what you can do.
See your doctor regularly. “After 50, every woman should have an annual checkup,” Shufelt says. Yearly appointments can help you keep track of health markers like your cholesterol, weight, blood pressure, and blood sugar, and help keep those numbers within a healthy range to reduce your heart disease risk.
If you’re at high risk for heart disease because of high cholesterol or weight gain, or if heart disease runs in your family, your doctor may recommend more screening tests. “People with a family history of heart disease are at a higher than average risk of heart disease,” Shufelt says. “For those people, we might use tools to assess their risk, such as a coronary calcium scan.”
Consider hormone replacement therapy. “We don’t use estrogen replacement to prevent heart disease, but we do use it in low doses for bothersome menopausal symptoms, such as having night sweats that prevent you from sleeping,” Shufelt says.
“There’s a certain percentage of women who will have troublesome menopausal symptoms for years — every woman is different,” Shufelt says.
If you’re in premature or early menopause and you’re eligible, Shufelt recommends using a dose of estrogen and progesterone through the time of natural menopause, at age 52, to replace what your body would naturally produce.
Additionally, lifestyle habits like not smoking, eating a balanced diet, losing weight if recommended by your doctor, and managing your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar can help maintain health during menopause.
“Menopause is an opportunity to know your numbers and look at your lifestyle because exercise and diet are the backbone and the cornerstone of cardiovascular disease prevention,” Shufelt says.