Dr. Shivanna Poorna Prasad,
BACKGROUND Hyperlipidemia is one of the important risk factor the development of coronary heart disease. The prevalence of the coronary heart disease is more in postmenopausal women when compared to menstruating women. This is in part due to the lipid abnormalities associated with cessation of menstruation. The present study is therefore undertaken to evaluate lipid profile and serum lipoprotein (a) levels in postmenopausal women. METHODS In this study total 120 subjects were included, who were equally divided into two groups, premenopausal and postmenopausal. Females with aged above 50 years with the history of arnmenorrhea of more than one year. Obese or overweight women with body mass index more than 25, to minimize the confounding effect on lipid and lipoprotein concentration. Those who have undergone premature menopause before 45 years. Patients on anti-inflammatory drugs, antidepressants thyroid hormone. Patients with history of liver disease, alcohol consumption, smoking, hypertension and diabetes mellitus Those who are on medication known to influence lipid metabolism (e.g. Sex steroids). RESULTS In our study all the lipid profiles (total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, VLDL & Lp (a)) are significantly higher in postmenopausal compared to premenopausal women and HDL is significantly lower in postmenopausal women although all the lipid parameters were within the normal range. CONCLUSIONS We can conclude that the significant increase in the total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, VLDL and Lp (a); and decrease in the HDL in postmenopausal women are probably because of the effect of estrogen deficiency associated with menopause.
