Highest Odds of Poor Overall AHA Life's Essential 8 Score Seen in Perimenopause

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By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com

via HealthDay

THURSDAY, May 21, 2026 -- From pre- to postmenopause, there is a decline in crude overall American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8 (LE8) score, but the highest odds of poor overall LE8 score is seen in perimenopause, according to a study published in the May 19 issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Amrita Nayak, M.D., from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues used data from 9,248 women aged 18 to 80 years from National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey cycles 2007 to 2020 to examine cardiovascular health using the LE8 score across premenopausal, perimenopausal, and postmenopausal stages.

The researchers observed a decline in the continuous median LE8 scores with advancing reproductive age in crude analyses, from 73.3 to 69.1 and 63.9 in premenopause, perimenopause, and postmenopause, respectively. The lowest component score was consistently received by diet, while the highest was seen for sleep. Diet scores declined over time across all stages. Pre- and postmenopausal women had worsening body mass index scores, while improvement was seen in lipid and sleep scores in these groups. Perimenopausal women were found to have higher age-adjusted odds of categorical poor overall LE8, poor lipid score, and poor glucose score compared with premenopausal women (adjusted odds ratios, 1.92, 1.76, and 1.83, respectively).

"Our analysis highlights that perimenopause, women's reproductive transition period to menopause, is the critical time when the increase in cardiovascular risk seems magnified," Nayak said in a statement. "When we compared women's LE8 scores to the premenopausal baseline, the perimenopausal group was the first to show a significant jump in the odds of having low heart health."

One author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

Source: HealthDay

Posted : 2026-05-22 09:54

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