A Review of the Relationships Between Endogenous Sex Steroids and Incident Ischemic Stroke and Coronary Heart Disease Events

The review examined the relationship between endogenous sex steroids and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, analyzing 17 studies in men and 8 in women. It found that lower levels of testosterone or dihydrotestosterone were linked to higher CVD risk in both genders, while higher estradiol levels were associated with increased CVD risk in women. Despite these findings, there were significant gaps, such as the need for more sensitive measures of sex steroid levels, a lack of prospective studies in women, and insufficient data on high-risk groups like African-Americans and Hispanics. Additionally, few studies differentiated between ischemic coronary disease and ischemic stroke, suggesting a need for future research to address these gaps and explore CVD subtypes.