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Smoking cessation, weight gain, and changes in cardiovascular risk factors during menopause: the Healthy Women Study
M M Burnette1, E Meilahn, R R Wing
1Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pa, USA.
Objectives:
The relationship between smoking cessation, subsequent weight gain, and cardiovascular disease risk factors from premenopause to postmenopause was studied.
Methods:
Healthy Women Study participants were assessed for changes in coronary heart disease risk factors from a premenopausal baseline assessment to first- and second-year postmenopausal assessments.
Results:
Although ex-smokers gained substantially more weight than nonsmokers and smokers, they did not experience a greater increase in cardiovascular risk factors. In fact, the results indicated a trend toward ex-smokers' high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels increasing slightly more than those of nonsmokers and smokers.
Conclusions:
Smoking cessation in perimenopausal to postmenopausal women is associated with greater weight gain but appears to be modestly associated with certain positive changes in cardiovascular risk factors.