A common disease among women may increase their risk of heart disease, a conference heard yesterday.
Women with polycystic ovary syndrome seem to have many of the chemical signs that warn of heart disease later in life, researchers said.
Between five and ten per cent of women suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which can cause ovarian cysts, irregular periods and infertility.
A team from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, looked at ten biochemical blood markers for heart disease in 6,260 women with PCOS and 4,546 without, taking part in 130 previous studies.
Analysis showed that seven of the markers were significantly higher in the women with PCOS.
The researchers, led by Dr Konstantinos Toulis, say this pattern may or may not put patients at a raised risk of heart disease, as it depends on the nature of the individual marker and the magnitude of the difference. Past studies have found no conclusive link.
Dr Toulis commented at the European Congress of Endocrinology: "This analysis shows that increased levels of risk markers for cardiovascular disease are firmly associated with PCOS.
He pointed out that PCOS is a difficult condition to study, because the symptoms vary so much, but an expert panel recently found "women with PCOS did seem to have an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease in later life".
He added that "this a potential warning" because "cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death for women in the western world, and as so many women suffer from PCOS, then any increase in cardiovascular disease risk may translate into later problems for an appreciable amount of women".
But this is not proof of cause and effect, Dr Toulis concluded.
Toulis, K. et al. Cardiovascular disease risk markers in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: systematic review and meta-analysis. Presented on Sunday 1 May 2011 at the 13th European Congress of Endocrinology, held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands from 30 April – 4 May 2011.
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