Things have gotten more complicated since then, especially after menopause. Scientific studies are uncovering the effects menopause have on the female body including a myriad of new health problems from cardiovascular disease to hypertension. The loss of estrogen seems to be the main culprit in the on-set of many of these conditions including elevated blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels. Though researchers are still unsure exactly how estrogen protects the female body from cardiovascular disease and related problems such as hypertension, growing evidence shows that once estrogen diminishes, due to menopause or hysterectomy, a woman's risk for these diseases increases, often marked by elevated cholesterol levels and high blood pressure.
Blood pressure is the force exerted on arterial walls when the heart moves blood through the body.
Anything higher may be cause for concern. High blood pressure, hypertension, is often thought of a stress disease, but its cause is unknown. Like heart disease, high blood pressure is often thought to be a man's disease, but after menopause a woman's risk is much greater than a man's risk, even if she's had normal blood pressure all her life. According to the American Heart Association, high blood pressure claimed the lives of more than 25,000 American women in 1996. High cholesterol is often linked to high blood pressure because it can lead to arteriosclerosis, or narrowing of the arteries.