Open AccessBlood Pressure, Arterial Function, Structure, and Aging: The Role of Hormonal Replacement Therapy in Postmenopausal Women
Author(s) -
Scuteri Angelo,
Ferrucci Luigi
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
the journal of clinical hypertension
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1751-7176
pISSN - 1524-6175
DOI - 10.1111/j.1524-6175.2003.00683.x
Subject(s) - medicine , menopause , hormone replacement therapy (female to male) , blood pressure , life expectancy , hormone therapy , estrogen , cardiovascular health , disease , hormone , cardiology , intensive care medicine , breast cancer , population , environmental health , cancer , testosterone (patch)
The occurrence of natural menopause may indicate that a woman is entering a period of increased risk for cardiovascular disease, due to both chronologic aging and lower levels of estrogen. This brief review aims to demonstrate the relevance of changes in blood pressure and large artery structure and function occurring after menopause. These changes, i.e., thickening and stiffening of large arteries (which, in turn would also result in increased systolic and pulse pressures), were found to predict subsequent cardiovascular events, independently of other known cardiovascular risk. The benefits of early hormone replacement therapy on the life expectancy of women have dramatically lost consensus since publication of the women's Health Initiative study results. However, the authors believe that those results should increase the attention paid by clinicians and public health researchers to the individualization of hormone replacement therapy prescription for postmenopausal women, and to a better characterization of those vascular parameters and profiles identifying postmenopausal women who are most likely to benefit from specific hormone replacement therapy in terms of cardiovascular protection.