Cardiovascular risk in climacteric women: focus on diet

ABSTRACT

A literature search was made using PubMed. The proportion of postmenopausal women has been continually increasing because of enhanced life expectancy. However, accompanying this trend, there is an observed increase in mortality due to cardiovascular disease (CVD). All over the world, obesity rates are increasing and this fact is associated with expanded rates of hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes. Many of these well-known risk factors for CVD can be modified by lifestyle changes. For this reason, nutritional strategies to prevent CVD in this population should be a primary objective for health-care providers. Any attempt at lifestyle modification should include behavioral changes and the implementation of healthy diets and physical activity. The Mediterranean diet is comparable with other interventions such as aspirin, statins, physical activity, and even antihypertensives in terms of reducing the risk of CVD morbidity, mortality and events. The aim of this review is to analyze the effect of dietary advice on postmenopausal women's health.

KEYWORDS:

• Cardiovascular disease
• diet
• cardiovascular risk
• Mediterranean diet

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this paper.

Source of funding

Nil.