Menopausal
women will kill for this
Menopause Blood Pressure
Menopause Blood Pressure
It has often been said that High Blood Pressure is very much an equal
opportunity disease and condition in that it is just as likely to affect
women as it is men.
The surprising nature of High Blood Pressure and its affect on women is
that three out of very four women with high blood pressure are aware of
the fact that they have it but research has shown that less than one out
of every three women are making any attempt to control their high blood
pressure.
I guess as far as Women and High menopause Blood Pressure are concerned
the debate falls pretty much into two topics: menopause and High Blood
Pressure and is there a connection and High Blood Pressure and
Pregnancy. This article will attempt to consider the relationship
between the Menopause and High Blood Pressure.
These are two key occurrences in a Woman's life? How do I know? Firstly
I am a father and I well remember (fondly) the entire period of my
wife's pregnancy and all that entailed. The second subject? Well let's
just say I know (at the risk of incurring the ire of she who must
be obeyed) and leave it at that.
The Menopause and High menopause Blood Pressure is probably a
combination of the big guy upstairs reminding us that life really
isn't fair and if having to come to terms with a whole series of
unfortunate physical changes isn't enough then along comes high blood
pressure to boot when you least expect it!
So what does it all entail? Does the onset of the menopause affect high
blood pressure?
Before the menopause, women tend to have slightly lower diastolic
pressure and systolic pressure than the men do. As has been mentioned on
quite a few occasions, it is after the menopause that the systolic
pressure in women increases by about 5 mm Hg.
These increases can be attributed to a number of factors partly related
to potential increased salt sensitivity and potential weight gain that
in turn are associated with Hormone changes that occur during menopause.
Sadly, Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) that many women either
undertake voluntarily or have prescribed for them may also contribute to
increases in menopause blood pressure. An additional factor to take into
consideration here also is that women who are over 50 who also take HRT
may also have a small increase on average systolic pressure (1-2 mm Hg).
These women are 25 percent more likely to suffer from high blood
pressure than are women who don't take HRT.
The important aspect to remember in all of this is that there are steps
that can be taken to control any onset of high blood pressure after the
menopause. Basically these revolve around various basic lifestyle
changes that can bring a tremendous benefit.
You would not realize how much benefit you could achieve from reducing
Sodium in your diet, increase the level of physical activity, generally
aim to keep to a fairly healthy diet i.e. lost of fresh fruit and
vegetables etc and cutting back and being sensible with the time honored
twin vices of Alcohol and Tobacco!
It is important to realize however that not all cases of high menopause
blood pressure are going to be dealt with successfully just through
lifestyle changes. Sometimes that just isn't possible and medication has
an important bearing on these matters also. Of the wide range of
medication available for the treatment of high blood pressure, in these
cases diuretics have shown to be extremely effective as many women have
reported that incidences of general fluid retention tend to rise with
the onset of the menopause.
Stephen Morgan
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/menopause-and-high-blood-pressure-115781.html