Vnitr Lek 2015, 61(5):392-397

Hypertension in females

Renata Cífková^1,2

¹ Centrum kardiovaskulární prevence 1. LF UK a Thomayerovy nemocnice Praha, vedoucí prof. MUDr. Renata Cífková, CSc.

² II. interní klinika - klinika angiologie a kardiologie 1. LF UK a VFN, Praha, přednosta prof. MUDr. Aleš Linhart, DrSc., FESC, FCMA

Hypertension is the most common cardiovascular disorder affecting more males in younger age groups; in the age group of 45-64, it is equally frequent in both genders, it is more common in elderly females. Blood pressure increases more in females around the menopause. Use of hormonal replacement therapy is not associated with an BP increase but, because of increased risk of coronary events, stroke, and thromboembolic events, HRT is not recommended in CVD prevention. There is a similar decrease in BP by antihypertensive drugs in both genders as well as benefit from antihypertensive treatment. Women report about a double rate of adverse events of antihypertensive drugs. Oral contraception use is associated with a mild BP increase in most women and development of overt hypertension in about 5 %. Pre-eclampsia is associated with increased risk of developing CVD later in life (more frequent development of hypertension, myocardial infarction, and stroke).

Keywords: epidemiology of hypertension; gestational hypertension; hormonal replacement therapy; hypertension in pregnancy; oral contraception; pre-eclampsia; randomized clinical trials in hypertension

Received: March 22, 2015; Accepted: April 8, 2015; Published: May 1, 2015  Show citation