For millions of American women in their 40s and early 50s, perimenopause arrives as a collection of inconveniences: hot flashes, disrupted sleep, mood fluctuations, irregular cycles. These symptoms are frequently normalized by physicians and by culture as simply "part of aging" — temporary discomforts to be endured until menopause is complete.
But a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA) and released May 13, 2026 by the American Heart Association is making the case that this framing is dangerous — and that the perimenopause transition is not only a hormonal milestone but a critical cardiovascular inflection point, one that offers a "window of opportunity" that clinicians and patients are consistently missing.
