Infertility linked to high risk of coronary heart diseases in women

A new study published in the Journal of American Heart Association suggests that women who are infertile may be at a higher risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). 

Some infertility symptoms, such as early menopause, menstrual cycle irregularity, and obesity, are linked to cardiovascular disease risk; however, few research have looked at the link between infertility and cardiovascular disease risk. As a result, Leslie Farland and colleagues undertook this study to analyze infertility and related risks of Cardiovascular Disease.

Participants in the NHSII (Nurses' Health Study II) were followed from 1989 to 2017 for the development of incident, physiciandiagnosed coronary heart disease (coronary artery bypass grafting, myocardial infarction, angioplasty, stent) and stroke. To construct hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), time varying Cox proportional hazard models were employed, which were a priori adjusted for any confounding factors.

The key findings of this study were:

Infertility was encountered by 27.6% of the 103 729 participants. 

Women with a history of infertility had a higher risk of CHD but not stroke when compared to gravid women who had not reported infertility. 

The link between infertility history and CHD was highest among women who reported infertility at a younger age. 

When researchers looked at particular infertility diagnoses, they discovered an increased risk of CHD in women whose infertility was due to an ovulatory problem or endometriosis.

In conclusion, researchers discovered that women who had a history of infertility had a higher risk of CHD, and this risk was highest in women who experienced infertility due to ovulatory issues or endometriosis. These findings support previous research indicating women with severe infertility, PCOS, and endometriosis had lower cardiometabolic health. Moreover, future studies should look at the role of knowing infertility history in addition to existing CVD risk factors, as well as disentangling the mechanism of link between infertility and CVD.

Reference: 

Farland, L. V., Wang, Y., Gaskins, A. J., Rich‐Edwards, J. W., Wang, S., Magnus, M. C., Chavarro, J. E., Rexrode, K. M., & Missmer, S. A. (2023). Infertility and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: A Prospective Cohort Study. In Journal of the American Heart Association (Vol. 12, Issue 5). Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). https://doi.org/10.1161/jaha.122.027755