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Hypertension in Postmenopausal Women: Pathophysiology and Treatment
High Blood Pressure & Cardiovascular Prevention, 05/03/2011
Leuzzi C et al. - This article summarizes the different causes of postmenopausal hypertension and the specific treatment recommended by guidelines for this condition.
- Hypertension is the most common chronic disease in industrialized countries and represents the most common major cardiovascular risk factor after the fifth decade of life in both men and women.
- The prevalence of hypertension is lower in premenopausal women than men, whereas in postmenopausal women it is higher than in men.
- Mechanisms responsible for the increase in blood pressure are complex and multifactorial, including loss of estrogen, oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, modification in renin-angiotensin system spillover and sympathetic activation.
- Postmenopausal hypertension can be considered an isolated disease, more typical of elderly women, or part of the metabolic syndrome, which is indeed more common in early postmenopausal women.
- Metabolic syndrome may be considered a potentially unfavourable prognostic factor in hypertensive postmenopausal women, because it seems to worsen the severity of hypertension and reduce the capacity to respond to specific treatments.
