Blood Pressure & Hormone Replacement Therapy

As women head into menopause, they may begin to suffer ill-effects from the onset of the condition. Hormone replacement therapy is used to help reduce these effects. Doctors have long been concerned with the connection between adding estrogen and hormones, which stimulate the areas around the heart, to an aging circulatory system. Although concerns exist that HRT could lead to a stroke or some other form of heart disease, HRT has not been shown to raise the blood pressure in patients receiving the treatment. In fact, some studies have shown that HRT may have some beneficial effects on women's blood pressure.

Identification

• Hormone replacement therapy, also known as HRT, is a treatment by women experiencing menopause or those that are post-menopausal. HRT is designed to help combat the conditions that arise from menopause such as vaginal dryness, hot flashes and frail bones. The treatment consists of injections, or oral doses, of hormones such as estrogen and progestin.

Effects

• HRT has several advantages that can become present within days of beginning treatment. Many of the negative physical effects of menopause are counteracted such as vaginal dryness and hot flashes. The hormones also help to bring emotional menopausal side effects such as mood swings and severe depression under control. Because of the impact that adding more hormones has on the body, HRT is recommended only for a short periods.

Significance

• Various scientific studies published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine have found that post-menopausal women with hypertension who use HRT experience a drop in their blood pressure, by over 5 percent on the systolic side and by over 15 percent on the diastolic side.

Theories/Speculation

• Although studies have shown that the blood pressure of women taking hypertension medicine while on HRT have experienced a decrease in their blood pressure rates, these same studies have also shown that for women taking calcium channel blockers to relieve hypertension while going through HRT, the level of blood pressure drop is one-half that of the antihypertensive medication. This finding could indicate that HRT acts much like a calcium channel and that is why the effects are reduced by calcium channel blockers.

Benefits

• In addition to lower the blood pressure for post-menopausal women, HRT is also known to reduce the level of calcium deposits in the blood stream. Calcium deposits in the blood stream are what cause blockages that can lead to a stroke or a heart attack. By lowering the instances of these deposits, HRT may also lower the possibility of a post-menopausal woman having a stroke or a heart attack.