Menopause and Serum Cholesterol: Differences between Blacks and Whites The Minnesota Heart Survey

The relation between menopause and serum total and high-density-lipoprotein cho-lesterol was examined by the Minnesota Heart Survey in a cross-sectional, population-based study of 344 black women and 474 white women aged 35-54 years from the Twin Cities metropolitan area in 1985-1986. Analysis of covariance was used to examine differences in serum total and high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol in black women and white women by menopausal status, adjusting for the effects of age, educational level, cigarette smoking, body mass index, exercise, alcohol consumption, diabetes mellitus, sex hormone, beta Mocker, and diuretic use. Among whites, adjusted serum total cholesterol was 13 mg/dl higher in postmenopausal than in premenopausal women (p < 0.002). Black postmenopausal women had slightly higher serum total cholesterol than did their premenopausal counterparts (5.4 mg/dl). However, this was not statistically significant. An interaction term in a linear regression model confirmed a racial difference in the total cholesterol association with menopause (p < 0.02). The higher total cholesterol levels observed in white postmenopausal women were mainly among those with natural menopause (20.7 mg/dl higher than premenopausal, p &lt