Functional Hypothalamic Amenorrhea Phenotype and Cardiovascular Disease Risk.

Abstract

Context: Menstrual irregularities have been associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, but underlying etiologies may confer distinct risk profiles. Functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (FHA) has not been evaluated as a separate risk phenotype.

Objective: To assess the association between FHA phenotype and incident CVD and cardiometabolic risk factors.

Design: Prospective cohort study with biennial follow-up from 1993 to 2019.

Setting: Nurses' Health Study II cohort.

Participants: The sample included 52,655 premenopausal women free of CVD in 1993. FHA phenotype was defined as irregular or absent cycles without PCOS traits combined with low body mass index and/or high physical activity.

Intervention: None.

Main outcome measures: Incident CVD (coronary heart disease [CHD; myocardial infarction or coronary revascularization] and stroke) and incident elevated cholesterol, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes (T2DM).

Results: During up to 26 years of follow-up, 1,007 CVD events occurred. Among women who developed CVD, the median time to the first CVD event was 17.0 years (IQR, 11.3-21.0). FHA phenotype in mid-adulthood was associated with a 62% higher risk of CVD (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-2.59), driven by an almost two-fold higher risk of CHD (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.91; 95% CI: 1.11-3.27), compared with women with regular cycles. FHA was also associated with T2DM (HR = 1.86; 95% CI: 1.41-2.47), but not hypertension or elevated cholesterol. Non-FHA menstrual irregularity was associated with elevated cholesterol, hypertension, and T2DM, but not CVD. FHA in early adulthood was not associated with outcomes.

Conclusions: FHA phenotype in mid-adulthood was associated with increased CHD risk independent of traditional risk factors. Menstrual history may serve as an early marker of cardiometabolic risk.