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Infertility and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: A Prospective Cohort Study.
Leslie V Farland1,2, Yi-Xin Wang3, Audrey J Gaskins4
1Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health University of Arizona Tucson AZ.
Journal of the American Heart Association
|February 27, 2023
Summary
Women with infertility face a higher risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). This increased risk is particularly notable when infertility is diagnosed at a younger age or linked to ovulatory disorders or endometriosis.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular epidemiology
- Reproductive health research
- Clinical study analysis
Background:
- Infertility shares risk factors with cardiovascular disease, such as irregular menstruation, early menopause, and obesity.
- Limited research has explored the direct association between infertility and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk.
- Existing studies indicate potential links between certain infertility symptoms and CVD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between a history of infertility and the risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke.
- To examine how the age of infertility diagnosis and specific infertility causes influence CHD risk.
- To provide insights into the long-term cardiovascular health of women experiencing infertility.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Nurses' Health Study II (NHSII) cohort, following 103,029 participants from 1989 to 2017.
- Defined infertility as 12 months of unsuccessful conception attempts, including women who later conceived.
- Employed time-varying Cox proportional hazard models, adjusted for potential confounders, to assess incident CHD and stroke risk.
Main Results:
- Women with a history of infertility exhibited a significantly higher risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) (HR: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.01-1.26).
- No significant association was found between infertility history and stroke risk (HR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.77-1.07).
- The CHD risk was highest for women diagnosed with infertility at age 25 or younger (HR: 1.26) and specifically elevated for ovulatory disorder (HR: 1.28) and endometriosis (HR: 1.42).
Conclusions:
- Infertility is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in women.
- The risk of CHD associated with infertility varies by the age of diagnosis, with younger diagnoses posing a greater risk.
- Specific causes of infertility, namely ovulatory disorders and endometriosis, are linked to a heightened risk of CHD.
Keywords:
cardiovascular diseasecoronary heart diseaseendometriosisinfertilitymyocardial infarctionpolycystic ovary syndromestrokeMore Related Videos
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