What is the health risk behind heavy menstruation?

A new study has found that women who experience heavy menstruation may be at greater risk of heart disease.

Menorrhagia, or heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB), occurs when a woman experiences excessive blood loss during menstruation, which can affect physical, mental, social health and quality of life.

The researchers found a link between menorrhagia and cardiovascular disease (CVD), which includes conditions such as strokes, coronary heart disease, heart failure, arrhythmia and heart attacks.

The team reached this conclusion after analyzing data on women who were hospitalized in the United States between the ages of 18 and 70 in 2017.

Among 2,430,851 hospital admissions examined, researchers found heavy menstrual bleeding in 7,762 women under the age of 40 and 11,164 women over the age of 40.

The researchers found that the number of women who were obese, used contraception, had polycystic ovary syndrome, infertility and anemia were higher in the heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) group than those in the normal menstrual bleeding group.

They also found that among hospitalized women under the age of 40, there was a significant association between heavy menstrual bleeding and an increased likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease.

The researchers suggest that this may be because heavy menstrual bleeding can reduce the amount of iron in the blood, which may hinder oxygen transport and change heart function.

However, for women over 40, the results showed no strong associations between heavy menstrual bleeding and cardiovascular disease.

Heavy menstrual bleeding with regular cycles has been associated with diabetes, heart failure, and arrhythmia.

“Most CVD outcomes remained significantly associated with heavy menstrual bleeding even after accounting for individual components of metabolic syndrome, insulin use, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, infertility, and anemia among young women admitted to the hospital,” the researchers wrote.

The researchers said heavy menstrual bleeding should be diagnosed early and managed to help women manage any long-term effects.

Those who experience heavy menstrual bleeding often suffer from anemia, fatigue, headache, and discomfort.

The study was published in the British Medical Journal.