Changes in body mass index around menopause: a population study of Chilean woman.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the influence of menopause and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on weight and the effect of weight gain on coronary risk factors.


METHODS
From 1991 to 1992 cardiovascular risk factors were assessed in 271 premenopausal women between the ages of 40 and 53 years. The women were not receiving HRT at that time. Five years later, these women were reevaluated.


RESULTS
Weight and body mass index (BMI) increased steadily with age. During the observation period there was an average increase of 4.0 kg +/- 4.6 (p < 0.0001). Women who experienced menopause and those who did not experience menopause had a similar weight increase (3.8 +/- 4.4 kg vs. 4.3 +/- 4.8, p = 0.37). Likewise, weight gain was similar in those who did or did not use HRT (nonusers, 4.3 +/- 4.6 kg; users, 3.5 +/- 3.7 kg; ex-users, 3.4 +/- 5.8 kg). At their first checkups, overweight women and obese women already had significant differences in their risk factors, including higher systolic pressure (p < 0.02), diastolic pressure (p < 0.01), glucose (p < 0.02) and triglycerides (p < 0.0001), and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (p < 0.004) as compared with women of normal weight. Unexpectedly, women of normal weight who became overweight or obese during the monitoring period did not show any deterioration in their risk factors.


CONCLUSIONS
During the perimenopausal period there is a weight gain that does not seem to depend on the menopause or HRT. Being overweight or obese during the menopausal transition is not necessarily associated with deterioration in coronary risk factors. This seems to imply the existence of different metabolic populations within this group of women.
Blümel
J E
JE
1Hospital Barros Luco-Trudeau, Fac Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago de Chile.
Castelo-Branco
C
C
Rocangliolo
M E
ME
Bifa
L
L
Tacla
X
X
Mamani
L
L
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D002677:Chile / Q000453:epidemiology; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D015228:Hypertriglyceridemia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D008593:Menopause / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012307:Risk Factors; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology