Women’s Reproductive, Heart, and Brain Health - W♥MB

The primary goal of the University of Utah’s Women’s Reproductive, Heart, and Brain Health - W♥MB initiative is to better understand how a woman’s early and mid-life reproductive health is connected to her later heart and brain health. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among women in the United States, with 1 in 3 women dying from heart disease and stroke.1 Women are also disproportionately affected by Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia, with lifetime risk being 1 in 5 for women compared to 1 in 10 for men.2 Studies show that women’s longer life span only partially explains this risk difference. Variation in exposures throughout the life course also contribute, including a women’s menstrual cycle function, ability to achieve and maintain a healthy pregnancy, and menopausal transition experience. Our initiative includes research, community engagement, and education.

(1.) Xu J, Murphy SL, Kochanek KD, Bastian B, Arias E. Deaths: Final Data for 2016. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2018 Jul;67(5):1-76.

(2.) Chêne G, Beiser A, Au R, et al. Gender and incidence of dementia in the Framingham Heart Study from mid-adult life. Alzheimers Dement. 2015;11(3):310-320. doi:10.1016/j.jalz.2013.10.005

1. Community Engagement
2. Publications and Presentations
   1. Publications
      1. Karen C Schliep, Women’s reproductive lifespan and subsequent inflammatory profile, how to best measure reproductive lifespan and the need for baseline assessments, American Journal of Epidemiology, kwz266
      2. Cannon-Albright LA, Foster NL, Schliep K, Farnham JM, Teerlink CC, Kaddas H, Tschanz J, Corcoran C, Kauwe JSK (2019). Relative risk for Alzheimer disease based on complete family history. Neurology. 9;92(15):e1745-e1753.
      3. Schliep K, Ju Shinyoung, Varner M, VanDerslice J, Smith K (2018). How good are electronic health records and death certificates for identifying Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia? International Journal of Population Data Science. Vol 3 No 4.
   2. Presentations
      1. Schliep K, Ju Shinyoung, Smith K, Ostbye T, Tschanz J, Foster N, Varner M.  Association between Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy and Dementia: A Systematic Review. Poster presentation at UU Sex & Gender in Women’s Health Research Symposium, May 17^th, 2019
3. Grants
   1. Center on Aging Pilot Grant 2018. “Association Between Women's Reproductive Health and Later Dementia”