Endometriosis linked to a higher risk of heart attack and stroke, new study finds. Here’s why — and what to do.

Endometriosis impacts more than 11% of American women, and the condition can be debilitating, leading to intense and sometimes chronic pain, bleeding or spotting between periods, digestive issues and infertility. But new research has found that endometriosis — in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus and in other areas where it doesn't belong — may come along with another potential complication: a higher risk of heart attack and stroke.

That’s the main takeaway from a new study presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2024. For the study, researchers analyzed data from Danish nationwide registries of women with a diagnosis of endometriosis between 1977 and 2021, and matched them with women without endometriosis. Overall the women were followed for an average of 16 years.

After crunching the data, the researchers discovered that the women with endometriosis had about a 20% increased risk of experiencing a stroke and a 35% greater risk of heart attack compared to those without endometriosis. Women with endometriosis also had a higher risk of arrhythmia (an irregular heartbeat) and heart failure compared to women without the condition.

“Cardiovascular disease has been considered a man’s disease but, as women live longer, the prevalence and number of women living with cardiovascular disease is higher in women than men,” lead study author Dr. Eva Havers-Borgersen, a researcher at Rigshospitalet Copenhagen University Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark, tells Yahoo Life.

But what’s behind this link and what can women do to lower their risk of cardiovascular disease? Doctors explain.

Why might endometriosis raise the risk of heart attack and stroke?

It’s important to note that the study didn’t find that endometriosis caused some women to have a heart attack or stroke — it simply found a link. However, this isn’t the first study to find an association.

A 2022 study published in the American Heart Association’s journal Stroke found that women with a history of endometriosis may be nearly 35% more likely to have a stroke later in life than their peers with no history of the condition. Another study, this one published in CMAJ Open, found that women with endometriosis were more likely to be hospitalized for cardiovascular disease and were slightly more likely to have a secondary cardiovascular event than those without the condition.

But … why? “Our hypothesis is that endometriosis is a chronic systemic disease which is associated with inflammation and oxidative stress,” Havers-Borgersen says. “These factors may affect the risk of cardiovascular disease.” Essentially, endometriosis is an inflammatory condition, and the inflammation can impact other areas of your body.

That inflammation “tends to increase the risk of plaque buildup within vessels, as well as heart attacks and strokes,” Dr. Diala Steitieh, a cardiologist at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine, tells Yahoo Life. Inflammation can also increase blood pressure and lipids (i.e. fatty components in the blood) which can also raise the risk of cardiovascular disease, Dr. Jennifer Wong, a cardiologist and medical director of non-invasive cardiology at MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, Calif., tells Yahoo Life.

Still, there’s a lot the medical community doesn’t know about the link at this point. “This is a topic that we’re only recently starting to learn about,” Steitieh says.

What other risk factors should women keep in mind for cardiovascular disease?

Having higher blood pressure, preeclampsia or eclampsia during pregnancy is also a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, Steitieh says. Early menopause and gestational diabetes may also raise your risk of cardiovascular disease, Havers-Borgersen says.

All of this is in addition to more standard cardiovascular disease risk factors such as having overweight or obesity, high blood pressure, smoking, eating an unhealthy diet, not being active and drinking too much, Wong says.

How to lower your risk of cardiovascular disease

There’s only so much you can do if you have a health condition that puts you at greater risk for cardiovascular disease. In the case of endometriosis, for example, there is no cure — the condition can only be treated.

“But you want to do what you can to change the modifiable risk factors you have,” Wong says. She says that means following the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8. Those include:

• Eating well. This means striving to have an overall healthy diet of whole foods, lots of fruits and vegetables, lean protein, nuts and seeds, and cooking in non-tropical oils such as olive and canola.

• Being active. Adults should get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity, per week.

• Avoiding tobacco. That includes inhaled nicotine products, such as traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes and vaping.

• Getting plenty of sleep. Aim to get seven to nine hours of sleep a night. This encourages healing, improves brain function and lowers your risk of chronic diseases, per the AHA.

• Managing your weight. BMI, or body mass index, is a controversial measurement, but the AHA suggests aiming for a “healthy weight” with a BMI between 18.5 and 25.

• Controlling your cholesterol. Limiting sugary foods and drinks, red or processed meats, salty food, refined carbohydrates and highly processed foods can lower your levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, per the AHA.

• Managing your blood sugar. High levels of blood sugar can damage your heart, kidneys, eyes and nerves over time, making it important to stay on top of this metric.

• Managing your blood pressure. That means trying to keep your blood pressure below 120/80 mm Hg, per the AHA.

If you’re concerned about your cardiovascular disease risk, it’s a good idea to talk to a doctor about your personal health history, as well as your family health history. They should be able to offer personalized tips and potentially even a treatment plan to help lower your risk.