Medical societies issue life-stage heart care framework

Four medical societies have jointly published a three-paper framework for cardiovascular care that follows girls and women from puberty through postmenopause, with pregnancy treated as a health event that can affect multiple stages. The American Heart Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine released the documents in Circulation. The framework organizes prevention and care around four life stages: perimenarche, ovarian cycling, perimenopause and postmenopause. Approximate age ranges are 8 to 15, 15 to 44, 45 to 51, and 51 and older, respectively. The societies say the approach is intended to connect care across specialties and support earlier recognition of cardiovascular risks. The framework considers cardiovascular, hormonal and psychosocial health together, rather than treating them as separate areas. It also positions pregnancy as a modifying event that can intersect with more than one stage and potentially reveal previously unrecognized risk. The publications identify menstrual patterns and pregnancy complications as possible cardiovascular risk signals. Heavy or irregular...