Obesity and Climacteric Worsening in Postmenopausal Women: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Abstract

Weight control in postmenopausal women is an essential condition, particularly among those with late menopause. The aim of this study was to analyze obesity and climacteric worsening in postmenopausal women. For this, a systematic review guided by the PRISMA guidelines was carried out. These were controlled studies that had at least participants with climacteric obesity and worsening in clinically confirmed postmenopausal women and that reported at least one outcome of interest. We searched Medline, Embase, Pubmed, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) databases for relevant studies. No language restrictions were applied. Timeframe from 2001 to 2022. We identified 22 studies that reported at least one outcome of interest for our systematic review. Increased prevalence of overweight is observed in all ages, genders and racial/ethnic groups; however, there are disparities. The relationship between obesity and incident HF is largely mediated by obesity-related conditions such as hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, dysglycemia, LVH, kidney disease and inflammation. Adjusting for factors along the causal pathway results in attenuation of associations between obesity and incident HF. Thus, in several epidemiological studies, abdominal obesity is present in two-thirds of postmenopausal women. Given the differential consequences of fat gain in postmenopausal women and the risks involved. It is important to redefine the approach to obesity in women as a serious, chronic and life-threatening disease.