Julia K. Bosdou*, Panagiotis Anagnostis, George T. Lainas and Efstratios M. Kolibianakis Pages 5551 - 5555 ( 5 )
Infertility may be an early indicator of later-life health risk development, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading cause of death globally. Various infertility-associated factors such as female age, polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis and metabolic syndrome are also risk factors for CVD. Whether there is a real association between female infertility and CVD, given that common pathways lead to both entities, or since both female infertility and CVD share a common basis, needs to be further investigated. If such an association is confirmed, infertile women might benefit from the initiation of preventive strategies aiming to control CVD risk factors. Thus, female infertility may represent an early indicator of future CVD and concomitantly a unique opportunity to identify women at increased risk for developing CVD. It is therefore imperative that large population- based studies are performed to elucidate this issue further and promote public awareness, if necessary.
Female infertility, cardiovascular disease, arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, CVD.
Unit for Human Reproduction, 1st Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Unit of Reproductive Endocrinology, 1st Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, EUGONIA, Assisted Reproduction Unit, Athens, Unit for Human Reproduction, 1st Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki