Women's Cholesterol Levels Vary with Phase of Menstrual Cycle

(Whitney) #1

I have a workplace biometric screen taking place tomorrow. This happens annually and is a great way to see my total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides, and fasting blood glucose for free on an annual basis. But now I am annoyed because I ran across the 2010 press release from the NIH about how where a woman is in her menstrual cycle can impact her cholesterol a great deal.

Take away points from press release:

  1. On average, the total cholesterol level of the women in the study varied 19 percent over the course of the menstrual cycle.
  2. HDL follows a cyclical pattern, peaking at the time of ovulation.
  3. Total cholesterol, LDL, and triglyceride levels are lowest just before menstuation (bleeding) begins each month.
  4. More women were classified above the desirable range (LDL > or =130 mg/dl or total cholesterol > or =200 mg/dl) when measured during the follicular phase.
  5. Obese women over 40 showed greater fluctuation in cholesterol levels than did the rest of the group.

My workplace health screen is tomorrow and it is the only option I have to participate until next September. And of course, I am in the follicular phase in my cycle where my total cholesterol, LDL, and triglycerides will be at their highest (at least according to this research) and my HDL won’t peak for another 7-9 days based on my normal cycle length. :rage:

Oh well. I know I can go to the doctor at a more opportune time and get even better tests run (LDL-p, fasting insulin, etc.), so I guess I’m not looking for advice. And knowledge is power, so at least I know this information so I can use it to interpret my results tomorrow. I’m mainly just lamenting the added annoyances that come with being female and wondering what other people think of this research.

Link to press release: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/womens-cholesterol-levels-vary-phase-menstrual-cycle

Actual research paper (available for free): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2936053/

(Adriana) #2

I find this topic very interesting too. :nerd_face:

I have read at least five similar studies and only two differ in the findings (one says the changes are not significant, another says that the levels decrease on the follicular phase); what one of the studies concluded was that the variations according to the menstrual cycle are only to be considered when doing a complete study of a cardiac patient or when testing a new drug for lipids, and I think it’s true.

In the studies I read the maximum variation was 30 mg/dl in total cholesterol, and the minimum variation was 5 mg/dl, I feel is not that big of a difference… but just something consider when doing the test.