Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: The metabolic syndrome is associated with an increased cardiovascular risk. The objective of our study was to describe the metabolic profile of postmenopausal diabetic women and to investigate a link between menopause and metabolic syndrome.

Methods: A retrospective study of 30 postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes was performed in the Nutrition C department of the national institute of Nutrition Tunisia between January and March 2022.

Results: The average age of the patients was 63.69±8.06 years with extremes ranging from 47 years to 80 years. The average duration of diabetes was 12.3±9.23 years. Seventy-seven percent of patients were treated exclusively with insulin, 6% with oral antidiabetics and 50% with dual therapy. Degenerative complications were represented by nephropathy (42%), neuropathy (21.3%), retinopathy (26%), lower limb arteriopathy (11%) and only 2% had a history of stroke. No coronary artery disease was noted. We noted unbalanced diabetes in 75% of cases with an average glycated hemoglobin of 11.8% ±2.12. Arterial hypertension and dyslipidemia were noted in 62% and 51% respectively. The lipid profile showed the following averages: Total cholesterol 4.91±2.5 mmol/l, HDL-cholesterol 1.3±0.5 mmol/l, LDL-cholesterol 1.5 ±0.62 and triglycerides 1.9±0.96 mmol/l. Obesity was found in 53.6% of women with an average body mass index (BMI) of 34.2±1.2 kg/m². The waist circumference varied between 89 and 117 cm with the presence of android type obesity in 89.7%. No statistically significant correlation was found between age at menopause and weight, BMI and waist circumference with respectively (P=0.635; r=-0.05), (P=0.487; r =-0.123) and (P=0.716; r=-0.68).

Conclusion: Hormonal changes are associated with an increased cardiovascular risk which is amplified with the coexistence of a metabolic syndrome, therefore the need for screening and regular monitoring.