Assessing and managing metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk in midlife women.
BACKGROUND
The components of metabolic syndrome (MetS), a major cardiovascular risk in women that includes diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, can evolve during the perimenopause transition. Lifestyle interventions have been shown to ameliorate or prevent individual components of MetS.


OBJECTIVE
This article will describe the hormonal and vascular changes occurring during perimenopause and discuss how they set the stage for MetS in women. The available screening tools (Framingham Assessment for Coronary Heart Disease vs Framingham General Cardiovascular Risk Profile vs Reynolds Risk Assessment) will be compared and contrasted within the context of the 2011 Updated Guidelines for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Women via case study.


CONCLUSIONS
Target goals and interventions to reduce or ameliorate the components of MetS will be presented, with a focus on achieving ideal cardiovascular health.
School of Nursing, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. jessica.coviello@yale.edu
Jessica Shank
JS
Coviello
M Tish
MT
Knobf
Sarah
S
Laclergue
D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008875:Middle Aged; D047648:Perimenopause / Q000502:physiology*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014481:United States