{"id":17324,"date":"2023-04-21T09:29:14","date_gmt":"2023-04-21T14:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naturalwomanhood.org\/?p=17324"},"modified":"2024-12-10T14:39:07","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T20:39:07","slug":"ciclos-irregulares-enfermedades-cardiovasculares","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naturalwomanhood.org\/es\/irregular-cycles-cardiovascular-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00bfQu\u00e9 relaci\u00f3n existe entre los ciclos irregulares y las enfermedades cardiovasculares?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s no surprise that the menstrual cycle can reveal important information about a woman\u2019s reproductive health, but when we talk about the menstrual cycle being a vital sign<\/a>, we mean that it can provide valuable information about whole-body <\/em>health.<\/em> A recent analysis<\/a> of data collected over the past twenty years on women\u2019s menstrual cycles reveals that having long and\/or irregular cycles could mean you need to have a heart-to-heart with your doctor about your risk for cardiovascular disease [1].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Large study finds connection between irregular cycles and risk for future heart disease<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

An observational study, published in 2022, followed 80,630 registered nurses in the United States over twenty-four years and asked them to report on their cycle lengths, body mass index (BMI), and their experiences with cardiovascular disease (CVD). While the average age of the study participants was 37.7 years, the participants also provided information on their past cycle length and regularity, specifically from when they were ages 14-17, 18-22, and 29-46 years old, in order to make comparisons for different stages in life. During the study, 2.3% of participants experienced a cardiovascular disease event (such as coronary heart disease or stroke\u2014yep, stroke is considered a cardiovascular disease even though it occurs in your brain, because \u2018cardiovascular\u2019 refers to both the heart and<\/em> the blood vessels). The study found that irregular and long cycles were associated with a greater risk for developing cardiovascular disease, even when other known CVD risk factors like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes were controlled for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What qualifies as an \u201cirregular\u201d period or a \u201clong\u201d period?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In this study, “cycle regularity was categorized as very regular (no more than 3 to 4 days before or after expected), regular (within 5 to 7 days), usually irregular, always irregular, or no periods” ” though having no periods is actually amenorrhea<\/a>). Long cycles were defined as lasting 32 days or more, though, interestingly, restorative reproductive medicine protocols like those used by FEMM<\/a> and NaPro define a \u2018long cycle\u2019 as lasting more than 36 days. Very long cycles were defined as 40 days long or too irregular to estimate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Study results<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Compared to women with regular cycles, women with irregular cycles or no cycles in early adulthood had a 36% higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease, and women with irregular cycles in mid-adulthood had 40% higher risk. For women who experienced cycles lasting 40 days or longer in early adulthood (compared to women with shorter cycles), the risk of developing CVD was 44% higher in women who were 18-22 years old at the time of their cycle irregularity, and 30% higher in women who were 29 to 46 years old when they experienced irregular cycles. Heart disease (but not stroke) risk was highest when women fell into both categories, having both irregular and<\/em> long cycles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several interesting correlations were uncovered when analyzing cycle characteristics in relation to cardiovascular disease:<\/p>\n\n\n\n