The Influence of Menopause on Blood Pressure

The association between menopause and the risk of cardiovascular disease has been reported to be positive by most [1–4] though not all [5] investigators. Hypertension is one of the main cardiovascular risk factors, which might explain the excess cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in post compared with premenopausal women. Indeed, in most countries with a Western lifestyle, such as Belgium [6], men from 20 to 40 years of age have a higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure than women of similar age. In contrast, from age 55 onwards, when most women have reached menopause, the opposite tendency is observed [6]. Nonetheless, the question whether blood pressure increases independent of age following menopause has not yet been conclusively answered [7–12]. In view of the remaining uncertainty, the present study investigated whether a positive association between blood pressure and menopause was present in a random sample of the population of two Belgian districts.