Impairment of physical exercise capacity in healthy postmenopausal women

Mercuro, Giuseppe; Saiu, Francesca; Deidda, Martino; Mercuro, Silvia; Vitale, Cristiana; Rosano, Giuseppe

doi:10.1016/j.ahj.2005.06.027

Cited by 37 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Healthy menopause is associated with a decrease in exercise tolerance. 36 The decrease in myocardial velocities highlights the impairment of exercise tolerance in response to exercise, as shown by the results of our study. Also, the present study demonstrates that only diastolic function of RV is affected in postmenopausal women.…”

Section: Circulation Journal Vol71 November 2007supporting

confidence: 55%

Effects of Menopause on the Myocardial Velocities and Myocardial Performance Index

Düzenli

Özdemi̇r

Sökmen

et al. 2007

Circ J

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enopause is a critical period in a woman's life, during which many physiologic and pathologic changes occur. Women spend one-third of their lifetime in this period and the hormonal changes that occur during this period have significant influences on several organs and systems. The cardiovascular system is among the most dramatically affected systems. Changes in cardiovascular risk factors due to estrogen deficiency and subsequent increase in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality have been demonstrated in several studies. [1][2][3] Structural and functional changes in the heart can also occur during the postmenopausal period. The effects of menopause on cardiac structure and function have not been investigated adequately. Interpretation of the results of the few previous studies 4-6 comparing pre-and postmenopausal women comprises some difficulties, owing to significant age differences and small sample sizes. Moreover, cardiac functions have been evaluated only by conventional 2-dimensional (D) and M-mode echocardiography in these studies, thus the extent of influence on more recent echocardiographic parameters after menopause have not been adequately analyzed.Tissue Doppler echocardiography (TDE) is a relatively new technique, which is partially utilized in recent years to evaluate cardiac functions via measurement of myocardial velocities. 7 Also, myocardial performance index (MPI) has been recognized as a parameter that reflects ventricular systolic and diastolic functions. 8,9 To our knowledge, no literature exists on how myocardial velocities, as measured by TDE, which have some advantages over standard echocardiographic methods, and MPI, which provides a more quantitative and global evaluation of left ventricular (LV), are affected by menopause. The present study was designed to investigate how myocardial velocities measured by TDE and MPI, which together provide more quantitative data on regional and global ventricular functions, are affected by menopause. Methods Study PopulationSubjects were selected from healthy women admitted to the gynecology and obstetrics, and cardiology outpatient departments between 2001 and 2006. After informed consent was obtained, a prospective analysis was performed. Body weight and height of all subjects were measured and body mass index was calculated. Fasting blood samples were drawn for biochemical and hematological investigations and ECGs were done. An exercise stress test using Bruce protocol and subsequent echocardiographic evaluations were performed. Postmenopausal status was confirmed as being in menopause for at least 12 months with serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels of >30 mU/ml and estrogen levels of <20 pg/ml, and premenopausal status Effects of Menopause on the Myocardial Velocities and Myocardial Performance IndexMehmet Akif Düzenli, MD; Kurtulus Ozdemir, MD; Abdullah Sokmen, MD**; Ahmet Soylu, MD; Nazif Aygul, MD; Kazim Gezginc, MD*; Mehmet Tokac, MD Background Although menopause is known to increase cardiovascular risk and mortality, the effect ...

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Section: Circulation Journal Vol71 November 2007supporting

confidence: 55%

Effects of Menopause on the Myocardial Velocities and Myocardial Performance Index

Düzenli

Özdemi̇r

Sökmen

et al. 2007

Circ J

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“…This means that the absence of estrogen seems to have prevented the exercise from being able to promote conditioning. These results confirm those of some authors when they suggest that menopause can be an important cause for the decrease in capacity to perform the exercise (Mercuro et al, 2006).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Menopause, exercise, and knee. What happens?

Fontinele

Mariotti

Vazzoleré

et al. 2013

Microscopy Res & Technique

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“…In another study menopause-related estrogen deficiency was, however, associated with reduced exercise tolerance and impairment in maximal aerobic function. 38 Nevertheless, for our participants the walking test performed in our study is a more typical everyday activity than the incremental workload until exhaustion performed on a cycle ergometer used in that study. 38 Therefore, the aerobic capacity required to walk for 6 minutes either does not seem to be compromised by menopause, or if so, longer time is needed for the effect to become evident.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%