Christakis MK, Hasan H, De Souza LR, et al. - In order to evaluate whether menopause is an independent risk factor for the development of metabolic syndrome (MetS) or its components, including hypertension, central obesity, dyslipidemia, or elevated glycated hemoglobin, researchers here examined data from women surveyed in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. They performed a cross-sectional analysis of 12,611 women (aged 45-85 years old) that participated in the baseline data of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging Comprehensive Cohort collected from 2012 to 2015. Among these women, 10,035 (79.6%) had undergone menopause and 2,576 (20.4%) were premenopausal. Criteria for MetS were more frequently met by postmenopausal women vs premenopausal women (32.6% vs 20.5%). Findings thereby indicate an increased risk of MetS in correlation with menopause, independent of age. Preventive effects of lifestyle interventions targeted at women with MetS on type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular risk are suggested. They suggest perimenopause to be a significant preventative care opportunity to determine metabolic risk factors and improve health and longevity of Canadian women.