IMR Press / RCM / Volume 23 / Issue 5 / DOI: 10.31083/j.rcm2305183
Open Access Review
Review of Lipid-Lowering Therapy in Women from Reproductive to Postmenopausal Years
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1 Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
2 Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford Healthcare, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
*Correspondence: frodrigu@stanford.edu (Fatima Rodriguez)
Academic Editor: Jane A. Leopold
Rev. Cardiovasc. Med. 2022, 23(5), 183; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.rcm2305183
Submitted: 15 February 2022 | Revised: 8 March 2022 | Accepted: 15 March 2022 | Published: 19 May 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cardiovascular Disease in Women)
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Although cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in women, cardiovascular risk factors remain underrecognized and undertreated. Hyperlipidemia is one of the leading modifiable risk factors for CVD. Statins are the mainstay of lipid lowering therapy (LLT), with additional agents such as ezetimibe and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors as additive or alternative therapies. Clinical trials have demonstrated that these LLTs are equally efficacious in lipid lowering and cardiovascular risk reduction in women as they are in men. Although the data on statin teratogenicity is evolving, in times of pregnancy or attempted pregnancy, most lipid-lowering agents are generally avoided due to lack of high-quality safety data. This leads to limited treatment options in pregnant women with hyperlipidemia or cardiovascular disease. During the perimenopausal period, the mainstay of lipid management remains consistent with guidelines across all ages. Hormone replacement therapy for cardiovascular risk reduction is not recommended. Future research is warranted to target sex-based disparities in LLT initiation and persistence across the life course.

Keywords
women
cholesterol
hyperlipidemia
lipid lowering therapy
statins
cardiovascular disease
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