- Researchers investigated the effects of lifetime estrogen exposure on stroke risk.
- They found that higher levels of lifetime estrogen exposure in women were associated with a lower risk of stroke.
- Further research is needed to understand how higher estrogen exposure confers protection from stroke.
A stroke occurs when blood is blocked from reaching the brain or a blood vessel in the brain bursts.
Stroke is the second-leading cause of death around the world, and its incidence increased substantially between 1990 and 2019 globally, including a
Some studies suggest that higher estrogen levels may
Understanding more about stroke risk factors could improve preventative care and lead to improved treatment options.
Recently, researchers examined the link between lifetime cumulative estrogen exposure and stroke risk among postmenopausal women in China.
They found that women with the highest lifetime estrogen exposure had the lowest stroke risk.
The study appeared in Neurology.
For the study, researchers examined healthcare data from 122,939 postmenopausal women without prior stroke at baseline from the China Kadoorie Biobank study. Participants were aged between 40 and 79 years and were followed for an average of 8.9 years.
They were asked to provide information about their reproductive history, including the age of puberty onset, the age at which menopause started, and the number of pregnancies they had. They also provided information on their use of contraceptive pills.
The women were then split into four groups according to their reproductive lifespan (RL), or the number of years between puberty onset and menopause. Those in the shortest RL group had up to 31 reproductive years, whereas those in the longest RL group had 36…
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