Evidence mapPaperPMID 32080740Full record

Observational studyThe Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism2020

Vasomotor Symptoms and Accelerated Epigenetic Aging in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI).

Rebecca C Thurston, Judith E Carroll, Morgan Levine, Yuefang Chang, Carolyn Crandall, JoAnn E Manson, Lubna Pal, Lifang Hou, Aladdin H Shadyab, Steve Horvath

Registry-linked trialOpen access · bronzeAbstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06975111 (Focusing on the Menopausal Transition to Improve Mid-Life Women's Health), which is not on this map. Cited by 13 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed
2.3field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT06975111 phase2 / phase3recruitingstarted 2026, after this paper: background citation

Focusing on the Menopausal Transition to Improve Mid-Life Women's Health

Ran2026Enrolled200Registered outcomes10Posted comparisons0ConditionsCardiovascular, Menopause, Menopause Hot Flashes, Menopause Related ConditionsArmsAnti-hypertensives, Fezolinetant, Hormonal therapy, Life Style Intervention, Lipid Lowering Medication
Open the trial in the graph
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed, 26 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. One size does not fit all: how type of menopause and hormone therapy matters for brain health.The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · 2025
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Vasomotor symptoms and cardiovascular health: findings from the SWAN and the MsHeart/MsBrain studies.Climacteric : the journal of the International Menopause Society · 2024
    Review
  5. Review
  6. Vasomotor symptoms and their links to cardiovascular disease risk.Current opinion in endocrine and metabolic research · 2023
    Article
  7. The epigenetic aging, obesity, and lifestyle.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2022
    Review
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.

Rebecca C ThurstonDepartments of Psychiatry and Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Judith E CarrollCousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California.
Morgan LevineDepartment of Pathology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
Yuefang ChangDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Carolyn CrandallDepartment of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California.
JoAnn E MansonDepartment of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Lubna PalDepartment of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
Lifang HouDepartment of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
Aladdin H ShadyabDepartment of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, California.
Steve HorvathDepartment of Biostatistics, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.
University of California, Los Angeles · USUniversity of Pittsburgh · USYale University · USBrigham and Women's Hospital · USNorthwestern University · USUniversity of California San Diego · US

Funding

Yale Clinical and Translational Science AwardUL1TR001863 · YALE UNIVERSITY · 2025 to 2025
$9.9M
TREATMENT GOALS FOR PERSONS WITH MULTIFACTORIAL GERIATRIC HEALTH CONDITIONSP30AG021342 · YALE UNIVERSITY · 2002 to 2025
$8.0M
Interdisciplinary Mentoring and Research in Womens Cardiovascular HealthK24HL123565 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI REBECCA C THURSTON · 2023 to 2023
$112k
NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR001422NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR001863NHLBI NIH HHS HHSN268201600001CNHLBI NIH HHS HHSN268201600002CNHLBI NIH HHS HHSN268201600003CNHLBI NIH HHS HHSN268201600004CNHLBI NIH HHS HHSN268201600018CNHLBI NIH HHS K24 HL123565NIA NIH HHS P30 AG021342NIA NIH HHS R00 AG052604NIA NIH HHS U01 AG060908
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe hallmark menopausal symptom, vasomotor symptoms (VMS), has been linked to adverse health indicators. However, the relationship between VMS and biological aging has not been tested. We examined associations between menopausal VMS and biological aging as assessed by 2 DNA methylation-based epigenetic aging indicators previously linked to poor health outcomes.

methodsParticipants were members of the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study integrative genomics substudy (N = 1206) who had both ovaries and were not taking hormone therapy. Relationships between VMS at enrollment (presence, severity) or VMS timing groups (no VMS: not at menopause onset nor at study enrollment; early VMS: at menopause onset but not at enrollment; persistent VMS: at menopause onset and study enrollment; and late VMS: at enrollment but not at menopause onset) and epigenetic clock indicators predictive of physical aging and early death (DNAm PhenoAge, DNAm GrimAge) were tested in linear regression models adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, hysterectomy, education, body mass index, smoking, and, in additional models, sleep disturbance.

resultsWomen were on average 65 years of age at enrollment. Severe hot flashes at enrollment were associated with higher DNAm PhenoAge [relative to no hot flashes: B (SE) = 2.79 (1.27), P = 0.028, multivariable]. Further, late-occurring VMS were associated with both higher DNAm PhenoAge [B (SE) = 2.15 (0.84), P = 0.011] and DNAm GrimAge [B (SE) = 1.09 (0.42), P = 0.010, multivariable] relative to no VMS. MAIN

conclusionsAmong postmenopausal women, severe or late-occurring VMS were associated with accelerated epigenetic age, controlling for chronological age. Postmenopausal women with severe or late-occurring VMS may have greater underlying epigenetic aging.

Indexed as

Body Mass IndexEpigenesis, GeneticAgedAgingCaliforniaFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHot FlashesHumansMenopausePrognosisRisk FactorsSurveys and QuestionnairesSweatingVasomotor SystemWomen's Healthagingbiologic agingepigeneticshot flashesmenopausevasomotor symptoms

Identifiers

PMID32080740
PMCPMC7069347
OpenAlexW3007455281

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.