Relationship Between the Menstrual Cycle and Heart Disease in Women
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2013-01-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Women who have regular menstrual cycles have a lower risk of heart disease than men of the
same age or women who no longer have menstrual cycles. The purpose of this study is to help
determine why the menstrual cycle causes a lower risk of heart disease. The investigators
believe that the hormones (estradiol and progesterone) produced during the menstrual cycle,
as well as the normal processes occurring in the follicle and corpus luteum (transformed
follicle), change levels of "good" and "bad" cholesterol in the blood-stream. These levels of
good and bad cholesterol are an important risk factor for heart disease. Therefore, our goal
is to determine what effects each of these factors (estradiol, progesterone, follicle, corpus
luteum) have on the levels of good and bad cholesterol in the woman's bloodstream. As many
women take birth control pills, which contain synthetic forms of estradiol and progesterone
that block ovulation and development of a corpus luteum, the investigators also want to
determine what effect one common type of birth control pill has on levels of good and bad
cholesterol.