Crimmins noted that these findings of similar cardiovascular risk profiles for men and women may help explain why the life expectancy gap between men and women has been narrowing.
“We’ve always thought men and women are really different,” she said. “But now that we can control for risk factors that were worse for men, the women don’t look that different.”
The researchers found that both men and women decreased their mean number of cardiovascular risk factors, with the greatest improvement among those 60-69 years old.
However, the improvements were paced differently. Men showed steady improvement over the two decades, while women’s gains occurred in the latter portion, from 2000 to 2010. In fact, there was an increase in cardiovascular risk among women aged 40-60 in 1990 and 2000, but by 2010, this was no longer the case.
The researchers also said that the use of hormone replacement therapy was unrelated to high risk blood pressure in women.
“It appears women were not being treated as frequently or as effectively as men for hypertension and high cholesterol,” Crimmins said. “But they are now.”
A ‘thank you’ for smoking cessation, medication
Indeed, the effectiveness of cholesterol medication appeared to consistently increase for both men and women taking the drugs. For men, the percentage with controlled cholesterol rose from around 63 to over 95 percent, and for women, the percentage rose from 65 to 88 percent.
“Further medication-related reductions in cardiovascular risk and mortality may be increasingly difficult,” Crimmins said. “The use and efficacy of these medications may have helped counteract increases in indicators for obesity and diabetes since 1990.”
The researchers said that stopping smoking, eating healthier diets and increasing physical exercise could lead to more potential improvements. They also said that more research is needed on how increasing prevalence of atrial fibrillation and obesity will relate to cardiovascular health, dementia and mortality.
Checking trends in risk factors for heart health
Crimmins and her colleagues used data of adults age 40 and older from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to estimate total cardiovascular risk, the prevalence of individual risk factors and potential factors contributing to changes in risk. They compared measures for these risks on three dates about 10 years apart, between 1990 and 2010.
The measures included systolic and diastolic blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) for blood glucose levels.
Crimmins’ coauthors included Research Associate Professor Jung Ki Kim and Assistant Professor Jennifer Ailshire, both of the USC Leonard Davis School.
Support for the research came from National Institute on Aging grants R24 AG045061 to the Network on Life Course Health Dynamics and Disparities, 2014-2019, with $326,398 total for fiscal year 2017, and P30 AG017265 for USC/UCLA Center for Biodemography and Population Health, 1999-2019, with $171,974 for fiscal year 2017.