Australia to lead global research into links between menopause and heart disease — the biggest killer of women

Australian researchers will lead a $15 million international research effort to unravel the links between menopause and heart disease — the number one killer of women worldwide.

The groundbreaking research, to be co-led by Melbourne University professor Martha Hickey, aims to prevent millions of women from experiencing cardiovascular disease in menopause.

It could shape global guidelines on how heart disease is prevented and managed among this growing group of women for decades to come.

Professor Hickey, one of Australia’s pre-eminent women’s health specialist, said many women experience a sharp rise in heart disease risk after menopause, and international experts were keen to understand what could be done to help mitigate the trend.

They believe current clinical guidelines miss a vital window for earlier prevention, she said.

“We know that menopause seems to be a critical time for women’s heart health and this major global study will help us support women and clinicians to reduce this risk,” Professor Hickey said.

“I believe that together we can make a real change in the understanding and management of heart health for millions of women worldwide.”

The SHE-HEALS study, co-led by British Heart Foundation/University of Cambridge professor Ziad Mallat, will use cutting-edge techniques to discover the changes in arteries that start during peri-menopause and drive women’s increasing heart disease risk as they age.

The clinical trial will be the largest of its kind to detect the silent changes that cause hardening of the arteries and test whether earlier prevention, such as lowering cholesterol or blood pressure straight after menopause, can stop or even reverse disease progression.

The team will also investigate how age at menopause affects heart disease risk — including among a cohort of women who experienced early menopause due to surgery — and see what affect HRT can have on disease outcomes.

“By bringing together this global team of experts, we believe was can make meaningful progress to advance the prevention, treatment and care of heart disease from women around the world,” Professor Mallat said.

The project was awarded funding through a subgroup of the Global Cardiovascular Research Funders Forum, a network of major international cardiovascular research funding groups. The Heart Foundation is Australia’s member of the forum.

The nearly US$10m women’s cardiovascular health grant is the alliance’s first major joint investment, which it said, represents a “bold step” to address areas of unmet clinical need within women’s cardiovascular health.

The research will be backed by a global team spanning 13 institutions across seven countries.

Heart Foundation chief executive officer David Lloyd said the foundation was one of 10 bodies contributing funding to the project, as a founding member of the international funding forum.

“We are extremely proud to be supporting this study and... it just goes to show the degree of expertise Australia has when it comes to research excellence,” Mr Lloyd said.

“Together, GCRFF members hope this winning network will deliver impact that no single country could achieve alone.”