Pathways to cardiovascular disease - Part 2: menopause

In our series of articles, we will go through the life and health factors leading to platelet aggregation, i.e. blood clot formation. Our second topic is menopause.

The three main factors in cardiovascular disease (CVD): high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and platelet aggregation are the three main causes of blood clots. Unfortunately, there are many more factors related to age, lifestyle, and chronic inflammation that can induce platelet activation, which can lead to blood clot formation.

Platelet hyperactivity is associated with conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, or occurs in people living in areas with high air pollution; the increased risk of thrombosis observed in the COVID-19 infection as a result of the listed factors drown the attention to the importance of these issues.

Other factors that can trigger platelet activation that can lead to blood clots include:

• Metabolic diseases are associated with chronic inflammation and platelet activation
• Chronic inflammation associated with infections
• Too much vigorous training, heavy sports
• Smoking / smoggy, polluted air environment
• A lot of tension and stress
• Menopause

Dietary anticoagulants, such as Cardio Fortis Natural Dietary Supplement with Fruitflow® Extract, are suitable for daily use, especially in individuals known to have a higher risk profile for complications from serious infections. Risk factors include being overweight, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, atherosclerosis, and age over 40.¹

Menopause, i.e. climacteric

More and more attention is being focused on menopause and the changes in the cardiovascular system of women, which accompany the decrease in estrogen levels during climacteric, which is why platelet hyperactivity during menopause has become one of the priority research areas.

Among other functions, estrogen protects the cardiovascular system, so women have a significantly lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) than men for 50–60 years.² When natural levels of estrogen decline during perimenopause, this protective effect is lost. Over the course of 5-10 years, women's CVD risk is the same as that of men.³ This effect is partly related to the loss of estrogen signaling that regulates the elasticity of blood vessels.

During perimenopause, the number of estrogen receptors on platelets decreases, and after menopause they disappear. Along with reduced nitric oxide (NO), this removes the protective layer from women's platelets. At the same time, declining estrogen levels cause increased instability due to disturbed metabolism, causing an unhealthy balance of blood fats and damage to blood vessels. Platelets can become permanently sticky after menopause, which is both a cause and a consequence of women's increased cardiovascular risk profile.

A decrease in platelet hyperactivity during and after menopause may somehow compensate for the loss of estrogen's protective effect on the cardiovascular system. In addition to diet and exercise, natural dietary antithrombotic agents such as Cardio Fortis may be potentially useful adjunctive therapies suitable for long-term use.

Your heart is important to us: prevention, naturally

Cardio Fortis is a natural dietary supplement for healthy blood flow with Fruitflow® extract, rutin and resveratrol to help maintain normal platelet aggregation, which contributes to healthy blood flow.

Fruitflow® was evaluated by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and in 2009 was awarded the first approved 13.5. Article (proprietary) health claim: "Fruitflow® helps maintain normal platelet aggregation, which contributes to healthy blood flow." ⁴

Cardio Fortis therefore consists of 3 natural ingredients that can contribute to healthy blood circulation and blood vessel health, supporting healthy blood flow. Read more about the product!

For whom is Cardio Fortis recommended?

If you answered yes to any of the questions below, you should take into consideration taking Cardio Fortis on a daily basis.

• Are you over 40?
• Do you live in a smoggy, big city?
• Are you living a stressful life?
• Are you doing too much sedentary work?
• Do you travel a lot by plane?
• Do you engage in strenuous sports activities?
• Have you entered menopause?
• Are you overweight?
• Do you have high cholesterol?
• Do you have diabetes?
• Do you suffer from chronic inflammation?
• Do you have high blood pressure?
• Do you suffer from atherosclerosis?
• Do you suffer from atherothrombosis?

References 

1. O’Kennedy, N.; Duttaroy, A.K. Platelet hyperactivity in COVID-19: Can Fruitflow® tomato extract be used as an antiplatelet system? Medical Hypotheses 2021, 147, 110480 (source)
2. Iorga, A.; Cunningham, C.M.; Moazeni, S.; Ruffenach, G.; Umar, S.; Eghbali, M. [CrossRef] - The protective role of estrogen and estrogen receptors in cardiovascular disease and the controversial use of estrogen therapy., Biol. Sex Differ. 2017, 8, 33.
3. Newson, L. [CrossRef] - Menopause and cardiovascular diseases., Post Reprod. Healthcare 2018, 24, 44–49.
4. World Health Organization, ‘Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) fact sheet’, Accessed on: 17th October 2017 [WHO]