HRT Best For Blood Pressure If Taken Within Five Years Of Menopause.(Hormone replacement therapy )

2001 APR 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may be most effective in lowering the risk of hypertensive heart disease if begun in the first five years after menopause, according to a new study.

The study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine found that HRT reduced blood pressure in women who had been through menopause less than five years prior to treatment. But those who received the treatment more than five years after menopause showed a much smaller blood pressure reduction.

Kimberly Brownley, PhD, research assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UNC's Stress and Health Research Program presented the new findings at the American College of Cardiology's annual conference on March 19, 2001.

Brownley's study is the first to examine if a link exists between time since menopause and the effect on blood pressure of hormone replacement therapy. Previous studies of HRT showed little or no beneficial effects on blood pressure. But a woman's time beyond menopause was not specifically considered.

Previous studies have shown that estrogen therapy reduces low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, but such changes do not confer direct benefits in reducing atherosclerosis in women with pre-existing coronary heart disease. According to Brownley, it may be important to re evaluate these findings while taking into consideration time since menopause.

"Instead ...