VIII
- High blood pressure and special cases
8.1
- High blood pressure and sport
8.2
- High blood pressure and obesity
8.3
- High blood pressure and pregnancy
8.4 - High
blood pressure and elderly
8.5 - High
blood pressure and children
8.6
- High blood pressure and contraception
8.7 - Influence of hormones on high blood pressure
(case of the post-menopausal woman)
8.8 - Influence
of life style modification on blood pressure
8.7-
Influence of hormones on high blood pressure (case of the post-menopausal
woman)
Many medical studies have
shown that men have a higher blood pressure than women who are not
post-menopausal, whereas the post-menopausal cancels this difference.
Rate of
the high blood pressure in men and women according to the age.
The explanation to this difference
is the presence of oestrogen hormones in women, which protects the
arteries. In fact, the non post-menopausal women would be less sensitive
to the effect of sodium, which induces high blood pressure.
8.7.1- Influence of the
hormonal treatment of the menopause on the blood pressure
The post-menopausal substitution hormonal treatments are prescribed with a
physiological dose of hormone, which do not seem to have an influence on the
blood pressure level. These treatments are based on the administration of oestrogen
and often of progesterone.
High blood pressure does
not constitute a counter-indication to the hormonal treatment of the
post-menopausal woman.
8.7.2- Antihypertensive
drug therapy
Many medical studies have
shown that women seem to look after themselves better than men because
they visit a greater number of practitioners (gynaecologist, podiatrist,
general practitioner).
On the other hand, the effectiveness
of the treatment seems to have a lower effect in terms of cardiovascular
mortality, in women compared with men. This data comes from a study
that included 20,802 women and 19,975 men, followed between 1972 and
1990 and treated by antihypertensive drugs (diuretic and/or beta-blocker).
But we have to be very careful
because this study is the only one and has used antihypertensive drugs
which are certainly effective, but old.
In the case of antihypertensive
drugs, all the drugs have the same effects among men and women.
A particular case is represented
by the woman wishing to be pregnant or already pregnant, since the
antihypertensive drugs of the family of the angiotensin-converting
enzyme inhibitor and the Angiotensine receptor antagonist cannot be
prescribed.
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last modified on : 28 sep 2003 |
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