Cardiovascular prevention in the perimenopause and postmenopause—Keep heart and circulation healthy

In addition to cancer, cardiovascular diseases play a substantial role in morbidity and mortality of women beyond the menopause. Prevention is the key to avoid or at least to delay cardiovascular diseases. Possible underlying metabolic and physiological disorders can be detected and corrected at an early stage by screening. The individual genetic disposition makes a substantial contribution to the development of cardiovascular diseases and should particularly give occasion to initiate screening measures. The foundation of cardiovascular prevention is a healthy life style. Pharmaceutical treatment of risk factors should only be a secondary consideration. The main determinants are nutrition, exercise and the use of alcohol and tobacco as well as psychological influences, which are presumably underrated. Evidence for the effectiveness of suitable life style measures is difficult to provide; however, countless observational studies worldwide have repeatedly arrived at comparable results with respect to some principal findings, so that recommendations can be derived with a certain degree of safety. This article summarizes the current state of knowledge on life style measures, with respect to smoking behavior, overweight, hypertension and disorders of sugar and fat metabolism in the context of the metabolic syndrome.