What About Transgender Women
While transgender women dont go through the same experience of menopause, they do need to take hormones throughout their lives.
As transgender women age, their risk for high blood pressure and blood clots will rise, according to Maas.
For them, healthy lifestyle measures will be even more important compared to cisgender women, Maas said.
Malahfji agreed, stating transgender women will need intensive multidisciplinary care to manage their medications and therapies, due to the fact that some of those treatments do place them at higher risk for developing high blood pressure.
Continued follow-up and regular screening is vital, he said.
If Hypertension Runs In The Family Know That While There Are Some Genetic Aspects That Can Affect Your Blood Pressure Hypertension Is Usually Lifestyle
You learn the same habits as your parents and tend to eat the same way. You are similarly sedentary and react to stressors in the same unhealthy way.
Lifestyle choices make a huge difference in how youre going to age. If youre a younger woman, this is the time to get in shape and really focus on your cardiovascular health. Exercise is key to bringing that blood pressure down. Its never too late to start living a healthy lifestyle, even in midlife. You can lower your risk for diseases like heart disease, stroke, and diabetes by getting in shape. So the sooner you start being proactive with your health, the better.
Hypertension Symptoms In Women Often Mistaken For Menopause
Sophia Antipolis, 27 January 2021: Pregnancy complications and early menopause increase womens future risk of heart disease. Cardiologists, gynaecologists and endocrinologists recommend how to help middle-aged women prevent later heart problems in a European Society of Cardiology consensus document published today in European Heart Journal, a journal of the ESC.1
Physicians should intensify the detection of hypertension in middle-aged women, states the document. Up to 50% of women develop high blood pressure before the age of 60 but the symptoms for example hot flushes and palpitations are often attributed to menopause.
High blood pressure is called hypertension in men but in women it is often mistakenly labelled as stress or menopausal symptoms, said first author Professor Angela Maas, director of the Womens Cardiac Health Programme, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. We know that blood pressure is treated less well in women compared to men, putting them at risk for atrial fibrillation, heart failure and stroke which could have been avoided.
A womans life provides clues that you need to start early with prevention, said Professor Maas. We have to assess female patients differently to men, and not just ask about high cholesterol. This will enable us to classify middle-aged women as high-risk or lower risk for cardiovascular disease.
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Its Incredibly Important To Keep Your Hormones In Balance As You Go Through The Change
Your hypothalamus also helps control your blood pressure by producing a hormone called vasopressin, which controls the volume of fluid around your cells. Vasopressin is also an antidiuretic hormone, which affects your kidneys production of urine. More vasopressin means less urine output, which results in higher blood volume and increases your blood pressure.
Overweight And Belly Fatness
Not only on the fat pad as such but their distribution is essential when it comes to assessing possible circulatory risks. Especially the stomach and the waist is the focus today. Here it is straightforward to measure.
Measure at the thickest point just above the navel. When the waist circumference in men exceeds 102 centimeters, and in women 88centimeters, this is a fat warning sign, regardless of body size: With the waist, the health risk increases.
Men should be careful already at waist circumferences from 98 centimeters, women from 80 centimeters. Since the stomach fat causes many adverse changes in your body. For example, liver, muscle, and adipose tissue cells respond worse to the sugar-lowering hormone insulin .
Then the body needs more insulin. It increases the risk of sugar metabolism disorder such as type 2 diabetes. In the context of obesity, insulin resistance can also cause blood pressure to rise and remain too high.
The body mass index is used to classify the weight. It is calculated by sharing the weight by the square of the height . Obesity starts with a BMI of 25 , from 30 there is obesity.
Since normal or underweight people can develop more belly fat, it always depends on the waist circumference.
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In Todays Article We Will Discuss What Causes Of High Blood Pressure In Women
The situation is similar with formerly unknown symptoms such as heart palpitations or heart stumbling, a particular, somehow nervous breathlessness or shortness of breath during exercise.
Whether it issues a male or a female: one should have such symptoms or a malaise for problems as described above by the doctor clarify.
Crisis increases in hypertension often affect those affected, but not always. Possible symptoms include dizziness, restlessness, anxiety, shaking, panic, shortness of breath, chest tightness.
It is best to check the blood pressure immediately and to call the doctor if the demand is high or the symptoms persist .
How Does The Menopause Impact Your Heart Health
The role of oestrogen isnt just limited to female reproductive health it has countless other responsibilities throughout the body, supporting bone, brain, skin, blood vessels and heart health . So, when oestrogen drops as it begins to do in the perimenopause naturally, there will be an impact on your heart and cardiovascular system.
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Under Pressure: High Blood Pressure Risks In Post
- Estrogen increases levels of nitric oxide, which is a very powerful dilator of blood vessels, and dilated blood vessels are conducive to healthy blood pressure.
- Estrogen not only helps keep blood vessels dilated by increasing nitric oxide levels, it also helps reduce levels of endothelin, a substance that constricts blood vessels and is closely linked to heart disease and high blood pressure.
- Estrogens antioxidant properties also reduce the type of free radicals called reactive oxygen species. These free radicals are implicated in cell damage and inflammatory responses, including those associated with cardiovascular disease.
- It may help reduce sodium sensitivity, making women less sensitive to the hypertensive effects of salt.
- Estrogen helps to suppress the renin-angiotensin system that controls enzymes and hormones that affect vasoconstriction and sodium retention.
- Estrogen helps to suppress the RASs production of angiotensin 2, a substance that triggers the sympathetic nervous system, which in turn is responsible for the fight-or-flight response that constricts blood vessels, increases heart rate and raises blood pressure.
Low Blood Pressure In Menopause Hot Flashes And No Energywhen Is This Going To Get Better
tmpearce
Hi ladies,
It has been a little while since I’ve posted because I’ve actually been doing pretty good. My gastritis has improved but it seems like when one symptom improves another one kicks in!
I really thought I was getting through menopause without suffering from hot flashes but I was wrong. I pretty much have them through the night, some nights I wake up 6 or 7 times. This goes on for about a week and then they taper off to a few times a night. I don’t have many throughout the day but do often have a few in the evening….and always after I eat chocolate. ?? I also have been suffering from low blood pressure…I’ve had high blood pressure since mid twenties so this is surprising to me, By low I mean a systolic from 92-106 and my diastolic runs 78-89. It’s the top number that is running low and even though this is technically considered hypotension, for me it feels like it. I get lightheaded, spacey feeling, really tired and when I exert myself my heart rate speeds up. Heart tests all normal….ECG, echo cardiogram, stress test and even had heart CT scan with dye injection which showed no blockages and calcium score of zero.
I am 56 years old and 1 1/2 years ago had partial hysterectomy so still have ovaries and have no idea if I am in complete menopause or not.
I am just tired of feeling so tired and dragged out and am wondering if any ladies here have had issues with low blood pressure and fatigue?
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The Link Between Menopause And High Cholesterol
Quincy AdamHigh Cholesterol Lifestyle
In addition to LDL and HDL changes, triglycerides, a form of fat stored in your body, also tend to increase during this time. In combination with other changes women are more likely to develop heart disease after menopause.
One study1 tracked 1,054 U.S. women as they went through menopause. They were tested each year for ten years for cholesterol, blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease. Over the two-year period surrounding their last menstrual cycle, average LDL rose by 10.5 points . The average total cholesterol rose by about 6.5 percent.
Other numbers that increased did so at a steady pace, which led researchers to believe they were related to aging. Cholesterol, however, spiked dramatically.
These numbers may seem small, but they represent a significant increase at a time in which other heart disease risk factors are rising for women. Insulin and blood pressure levels also tend to increase as women age.
Watch Out For Processed Food And Sugar
We should all know by now that eating an excessive amount of carbs and sugar is bad for us. Technically speaking, doing so prompts our body to release high amounts of insulin and leptin, two hormones directly connected to body fat and obesity. When our insulin and leptin go beyond the normal range, our blood pressure is affected. But thats not all: too much sugar in the body makes us resistant to insulin and leads to a variety of diseases, including diabetes.
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Who Is Affected By Hypertension
According to the Robert Koch Institute Berlin, one-third of adult Us have hypertension, i.e., pressure values over 140/90 mmHg.
However, 60% of the two-thirds blood pressure healthy already have values that are not optimal or just below the currently set general limit of 140/90 mmHg .
Even if these, in particular, the latter only marginally, even as high normal values often do not apply as requiring treatment: completely irrelevant they are not. Therefore, they should get checked from time to time.
I already had high blood pressure. I have hypertension. And I think the chemo was just too much for my kidneys. And they went into failure. And that was October 19th of 2018. And the doctor rushed me right to the hospital
Menopause And Cardiovascular Disease
In many women, the risk of heart disease significantly increases after the menopause . The diminishing levels of oestrogen may increase the narrowing of the coronary arteries, thereby, allowing for a build-up for plaque. Although women are likely to first present with heart disease ten years after men, research shows that heart disease is still the leading cause of mortality in postmenopausal women .
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Pregnancy Can Elevate The Risk Of Hbp In Women
Some women who have never had high blood pressure develop it while they are pregnant.
Preeclampsia is usually characterized by the onset of high blood pressure that is lasting and can lead to various complications.
Learn how it affects 1 in 25 pregnancies in the U.S and what you can do.
A Change In Recommendations
These studies were the first large-scale trials that looked for cause and effect with heart disease and HRT. HRT does offer some benefits, such as preventing osteoporosis and reducing the risk of colon cancer. But the data on heart-related risks from these studies were very compelling. As a result, the American Heart Association and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration developed new guidelines for the use of HRT:
The bottom line, say physicians at the Miller Family Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute at Cleveland Clinic: weigh the benefits of HRT against the risks and discuss the whole subject of HRT with your physician to be able to make an informed decision.
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Symptoms Of Heart Disease
With menopause, factors conspire to change a womans risk for heart disease, Foody says. Its important for women to understand that while menopause transition is natural, some of the symptoms associated with it, such as heart palpitations or increases in blood pressure, can have significant consequences.
Women should check with their doctor to be sure what theyre experiencing is still within a range of normal, Foody notes.
Symptoms you should never ignore include:
1. Palpitations Dont assume heart palpitations are natural flutters, says Rosen. Its important to identify atrial fibrillation, because this heart condition increases the risk of stroke, adds Foody.
2. Shortness of breath If you were able to go up the stairs fine, and now you find you are short of breath, talk to your healthcare provider, says Foody. It could be a sign of congestive heart failure or coronary artery disease. Shortness of breath is also one of the most common symptoms of atrial fibrillation.
3. Pressure in the chest It could be an indication of heart disease. Some women think that unless they have crushing chest pain, its not a heart attack, Foody reports. A feeling of fullness, squeezing or dull pressure in the chest that doesnt go away or that goes away and comes back could be a sign of a heart attack in women.
4. Headaches They might be a sign of high blood pressure, so get any symptoms checked out.
How Does The Body Regulate Blood Pressure
The system is complicated, many components interlock. The most important are:
- Sympathetic nervous system
- The Renin-Angiotensin System
- The kidneys and adrenal glands
- The salt and water balance
- The blood vessels, especially the large, elastic arteries
Central blood pressure regulators are the sympathetic nervous system with the well-known stress hormone epinephrine and norepinephrine and the generally less well-known renin-angiotensin system .
If the sympathetic nervous system is overactive, for example during stress, the body is in attack or defense mode. The heart beats faster, the blood pressure rises.
The kidneys are also involved in this process. Among other things, they produce more of the enzyme renin, which is why angiotensin, or more precisely angiotensin II, also increases. It is a powerful hormone that promotes blood pressure. The adrenal glands, for example, cause it to release circulating hormones such as aldosterone increasingly.
Another blood pressure control variable is the elasticity, i.e., the adaptability of the arteries, to pressure changes. It mainly affects the large arteries. But even the small arteries can become tenser on certain circulatory stimuli.
Each element individually and collectively affects blood pressure. If the described temporary increases blood pressure was increasing and the body continues to grow the blood pressure level, the pressure remains set too high.
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Medstar Washington Hospital Center
Endocrine hypertension is a type of high blood pressure caused by a hormone imbalance. Most often these disorders originate in the pituitary or adrenal gland and can be caused when the glands produce too much or not enough of the hormones they normally secrete.
There are several types of endocrine hypertension, including:
Primary hyperaldosteronism: a hormonal disorder that leads to high blood pressure when the adrenal glands produce too much aldosterone hormone, which raises sodium levels in the blood.
Pheochromocytoma: a rare endocrine tumor originating in the medulla, the inner part of the adrenal gland causes the release of excessive amounts of hormones that control responses to stress, heart rate and blood pressure.
Paraganglioma: a tumor that originates from the cortex, the outside of the adrenal glands most often these are located in the head and neck region, heart, bladder, spine, chest, abdomen, or pelvis and produce excessive amounts of the catecholamine hormone, which can lead to high blood pressure.
Most often, treatment for these types of hypertension focuses on the cause of the high blood pressure. Sometimes, additional blood pressure medication may be prescribed.
Genetic tests may be appropriate in selected patients with a neuroendocrine tumor or pheochromocytoma.
Check Your Blood Pressure Regularly
With so many digital blood pressure devices out there, checking your BP is easier than ever. Home monitoring allows you to keep tabs on your BP and alert you of potential health problems. Remember the blood pressure ranges we mentioned earlier? Keep those in mind when checking your BP!
I personally have my own BP device at home, and I check my BP every week.
I actually want to buy another one that connects to my Apple Watch and iPhone! This one is on my shopping list:
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The Protective Effects Of Estrogen
During a womans reproductive life she is indeed at a lower overall risk of developing high blood pressure because of the protective effects of estrogen. Estrogen acts through many different mechanisms to help keep the blood vessels flexible and to modulate other hormone activities that can contribute to developing high blood pressure. Since women of reproductive age have generally high levels of estrogen, they enjoy a fairly broad level of protection from high blood pressure.
High Blood Pressure And Headaches In Menopausal Women
During menopause, the shifts in a woman’s hormone levels cause many physical alterations to occur throughout the body: the circulatory system being just one part of the body that is affected. Decreased production of testosterone, progesterone,and estrogen hormones causes activity in the bloodstream which can result in headaches and high blood pressure. These symptoms can be experienced as mild irritants, or at their worst, dangerous health hazards: .
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