Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Fertility, Heart Disease, JACC / 19.04.2022
MGH Study Finds Infertility Associated with Increased Risk of Heart Failure
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Emily Lau, MD, MPH
Cardiologist
Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Director, Menopause, Hormones & Cardiovascular Disease Clinic
Massachusetts General Hospital
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Emerging data suggest that a woman’s reproductive history influences her future risk of heart disease.
Infertility is a reproductive risk factor that affects ~14% of women but has not been rigorously studied with respect to its relationship with cardiovascular disease risk.
We studied over 38,000 women enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative and found that infertility was associated with greater risk of heart failure. In particular, we found that the association was driven by greater risk of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, a form of heart failure that is far more common among women.
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