What’s more, recent research suggests heart palpitations that occur during menopause may be associated with a higher risk of heart disease. Cardiomyopathy is a collection of different conditions of the heart muscle that can cause the heart muscle to stiffen, thicken, thin out, or fill with substances the body produces that shouldn’t be there, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In addition to heart disease, palpitations can also be a sign of an abnormal heart valve, heart attack, heart failure, or cardiomyopathy, per Penn Medicine. But there are cases where someone with heart palpitations does have an underlying heart condition or discovers underlying heart disease that was previously undiagnosed, says Purvi Parwani, MD, a cardiologist at Loma Linda University International Heart Institute and the director of its women’s heart health clinic. In many cases, palpitations in general aren’t cause for concern and will go away on their own, per Cleveland Clinic. Could Midlife Heart Palpitations Be a Sign of a Serious Heart Condition in Women? One factor that may contribute is the decline in estrogen, which is believed to have benefits for the inner layer of the artery wall, helping to keep blood vessels flexible. Estrogen declines even further during this phase, and irregular heartbeats and palpitations can occur, according to research published in the journal Climacteric.Īlthough menopause doesn’t cause heart disease, the risk of heart disease goes up with the onset of menopause, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).

Menopause is diagnosed in hindsight, after a woman has gone without a menstrual period for 12 consecutive months. Perimenopause can begin 8 to 10 years before menopause during the last 1 to 2 years of this transition, the drop in estrogen accelerates and many women begin to experience menopausal symptoms. “As estrogen levels decline, some women may experience irregular heartbeats or a sensation of their heart racing or fluttering, known as heart palpitations.” “Estrogen plays a role in regulating the autonomic nervous system, which controls the heart rate and can affect the heart rhythm,” explains David Slotwiner, MD, the chief of cardiology at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens in New York City. When a woman enters perimenopause, the lead-up to menopause, there is a significant decrease in estrogen production.

When a woman is still having her menstrual period, estrogen and progesterone levels rise and fall during different times of the month, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Menopause, Hormones, and Heart Disease Risk They found that as many as 54 percent of the studied women reported palpitations. Carpenter and her team published a research review in Current Obstetrics and Gynecology Reports analyzing the prevalence of palpitations among women going through menopause. Carpenter, PhD, RN, a distinguished professor at Indiana University School of Nursing in Indianapolis who studies heart palpitations in women. “Palpitations are not only quite common, but also underdiagnosed and understudied when I’ve talked to some of my colleagues about heart palpitations, they’ve been a little bit shocked about what we still don’t know,” says Janet S. Menopausal palpitations are described as loud, racing, or skipped heartbeats, flip-flops, fluttering, or pounding that occurs with or without dizziness or light-headedness. Not All Menopausal Symptoms Are the Same, in Terms of Risk or DiscomfortĪlthough no menopause symptom can be considered unimportant, heart palpitations can be particularly concerning, as they can indicate a more serious underlying health issue.

Vasomotor symptoms, such as hot flashes, are widely recognized, but there are dozens of other menopausal symptoms that a woman can experience. Even though menopause is an inevitable fact of life for women, most aren’t aware of all the changes in their bodies, brains, and overall health that the transition will bring.

Flutter in chest gas