According a study published in the December 15-22 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, blood levels of bad cholesterol - low-density-lipoprotein or LDL - rise substantially in women during menopause, but there are no other dramatic changes in risk factors for heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular problems.

The worsening-cholesterol-related findings of the menopause report were based on the observation of over 3,000 US women since 1996, as the researchers made a notable attempt to “understand the changes women experience during life.”

The study, released at a press briefing sponsored by the American College of Cardiology, suggests that since increase in total cholesterol, LDL and apolipoprotein B (Apo B) is apparently “consistent with menopause-induced changes,” women approaching menopause should go in for lipid profile check up.

Commenting on the findings of the study, Kim Sutton-Tyrrell, of the Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said: “Our data specifically identify the critical time period, the year immediately around the final menstrual period, as the time of the most adverse changes in the lipid profile in all ethnic groups.”

Sutton-Tyrrell further said that thus far there has been “no good data in the literature” to determine whether the increase in cardiovascular disease risk among postmenopausal women results from a function of ovarian aging or chronological aging.