Research
Global study to investigate how menopause shapes heart health
A study that aims to transform heart disease prevention and care for women around the world has been awarded US $10 million by a global collaboration of major cardiovascular disease research funders, including us.
The research seeks to advance our understanding of how menopause shapes heart health. The funding will also support the team to launch the largest clinical trial of its kind to detect silent changes in arteries, and test whether earlier prevention can stop or even reverse their progression.
The research has been funded by a sub-group of the Global Cardiovascular Research Funders Forum (GCRFF), through its International Research Challenge on Women’s Cardiovascular Health. The funding marks a significant milestone as the Forum’s first major joint investment and a bold step to address areas of unmet clinical need within women’s cardiovascular health.
The SHE-HEALS study, led by BHF Professor Ziad Mallat at the University of Cambridge and Professor Martha Hickey at the University of Melbourne, will use cutting edge techniques to discover the changes in arteries that start during perimenopause and drive increasing heart disease risk.
As part of this work, the team will also investigate how age at menopause affects heart disease risk, and whether taking HRT impacts this risk.
The researchers believe that current guidelines miss a vital window for earlier prevention in women. To address this, the team will establish the largest trial of its kind to detect silent atherosclerosis – the hidden hardening of the arteries and a key driver of heart disease – in women in perimenopause and early after menopause.
By spotting the early signs of disease before symptoms appear, the study will test whether early prevention, including targeting key risk factors such as high blood pressure and cholesterol, can stop or even reverse progression of atherosclerosis.
'Healthier hearts for longer'
The SHE-HEALS team hope that the evidence from this study will help to shape global guidelines, paving the way for earlier, more effective prevention to protect the hearts of millions of women for longer.
Dr Charmaine Griffiths, our Chief Executive, said: “Today the devastating reality is that too many women still die from heart disease because they have been under-diagnosed and under-treated.
“We’ve known for a long time that menopause affects women’s heart health but the details we need to detect problems sooner and treat women more effectively have remained a mystery.
“The SHE-HEALS project promises to provide the missing insights we urgently need, as well as revealing vital new therapies that could halt or even reverse cardiovascular disease in women.
“Ultimately, we want to ensure all grandmas, mums, and sisters have healthier hearts for longer and get more time with their loved ones. And I’m delighted that the BHF is playing its part in a brilliant global network determined to do just that.”
Through funding a network of the brightest minds and the best science, the GCRFF grant represents an opportunity for international, multi-disciplinary, and multi-institution collaboration. Combining global expertise, the winning network’s research program will aim to deliver real-world impact in women’s cardiovascular health that would not otherwise be possible.