Everyday Health: Are men or women at a higher risk for developing high cholesterol?
Pamela Warren, MS, CHN: Young men are at a higher risk for developing high cholesterol than are young women. Estrogen levels in young women have a protective effect against high cholesterol. However, when women go through menopause, estrogen levels drop, and at around age 55, their risk of developing high cholesterol goes up.
Stuart A. Seale, MD: Women tend to be at lower risk for developing high cholesterol in their younger years, primarily because of the protective effect of the female hormone estrogen. As they enter the menopausal years, estrogen levels decline and the protective effect goes away, equalizing their risk with that of men. Cardiovascular disease is the leading killer of both men and women in the United States.
Lisa Matzer, MD: A higher proportion of women than men have elevated cholesterol. The risk of having higher cholesterol is particularly high for women who have gone through menopause and hence have lower estrogen levels - estrogen tends to raise levels of good cholesterol. In fact, women over the age of 55 have almost a twofold increased chance of having elevated cholesterol levels compared with men of the same age.
Jacob DeLaRosa, MD: Men and premenopausal women have important differences in cholesterol. Young women tend to have lower LDL levels than young men, and from puberty on, women tend to have higher HDL levels than men, because of the effects of estrogen. When estrogen production declines after menopause, women's good levels decrease greatly. Also, after the age of 55, women tend to have higher bad levels than men.
Jeanette Bronée, CHHC, AADP: Men tend to eat more meat and saturated fatty foods than do women, women tend to eat more sugar than men, both eat dairy and ice cream, and that can add up to high inflammation and therefore high cholesterol for both parties. Men tend to be at higher risk earlier in life than women, whose risk increases, though, after menopause.
Last Updated: 8/17/2012