Another research review suggested that heart palpitations may be associated with lower physical activity and a more sedentary lifestyle. Yet the findings of the studies in the review had conflicting results, with five showing this association and three showing no significant difference in palpitations across groups who engaged in varying levels of physical activity.
The same review also suggested that ethnicity might play a role in heart palpitation risk, with some studies showing greater risk in women of certain ethnicities versus others. However, these studies were in English only, and palpitations were often not the main focus.
Newer research by Carpenter and her colleagues suggests that palpitations do not seem associated with demographics, biomarkers, or anxiety, but they may relate to vasomotor symptoms and diabetes.
Ultimately, these mixed results highlight the need for more research on menopausal palpitations and what might lead some women to experience them.
It isn’t clear why heart palpitations in perimenopausal or menopausal women are understudied and unrecognized compared with other menopausal symptoms, says Carpenter.
“It could partly be due to the fact that there’s been a historic bias against women in cardiology,” she says.
“There has been a historical and illustriously documented bias against women in cardiology, with poor understanding and trivialization of heart symptoms, including palpitations, that results in missed or delayed diagnosis of serious cardiac events,” says Parwani.
At the same time, symptoms of menopause have often been trivialized as “no big deal,” Carpenter says.
“Heart palpitations are at the intersection of these two things. If people have been attributing the palpitations to menopause, there may be a general feeling that these will probably go away, don’t worry about it,” she says.
Another reason that heart palpitations may not be recognized is that some previous research has grouped heart palpitations as part of a hot flash and not its own symptom, says Carpenter.
“There are some studies that define hot flashes in terms of heat, sweating, and heart racing or pounding, suggesting that palpitations occur at the same time as the hot flashes,” she says. “However, when I talk to women, these palpitations are often separate from the hot flashes. They’re feeling these when they lie down at night or in the middle of the day — sort of odd times that aren’t related to the hot flashes.”
This suggests that palpitations are a symptom separate from hot flashes, she says.
More consistent and thorough research on menopausal palpitations and other menopause symptoms is still needed.
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