Study seeks to understand why women’s hearts become more vulnerable after menopause

A new study will investigate why women’s hearts may be affected differently by type 2 diabetes before and after menopause.

The researchers are among a cohort of leading mid-career scientists to receive a total of almost €6m, about £5.2m, through a partnership between the British Heart Foundation, the Dutch Heart Foundation, the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research and the Lefoulon-Delalande Foundation to support international research collaborations over four years.

The menopause project will be led by Dr Lisa Heather, from the University of Oxford, Dr Miranda Nabben, from Maastricht University and Dr Annie Turkieh, from the Pasteur Institute.

Professor Metin Avkiran is director of international partnerships and special programmes at the British Heart Foundation.

Avkiran said: “We’re delighted to be supporting these ambitious research programmes alongside our European partners, and to welcome CNIC and CIBER-CV to this pioneering partnership,” said

“By joining together, we can make the money donated by BHF’s generous supporters go further to drive more lifesaving research.

“By placing mid-career researchers at the heart of this scheme, we’re backing emerging leaders in cardiovascular science.

“These partnerships are designed to last well beyond the lifetime of the awards and help address the biggest unmet needs in cardiovascular research.”

Before menopause, women are largely protected from diabetic cardiomyopathy, a type of heart muscle damage linked to diabetes, yet after menopause they become more vulnerable than men and more susceptible to heart failure.

Researchers do not yet fully understand why this happens, but believe changing hormone levels after menopause may disrupt cell signals sent out by fat tissue.

This may lead to diabetic cardiomyopathy and trigger damage to the heart.

The study will examine how the hearts and fat tissue of women with type 2 diabetes differ before and after menopause, using animal models, human cells, computer modelling and patient data.

The team says this could lead to a blood test for earlier diagnosis and better treatments for women living with type 2 diabetes.