We know that aging is associated with oxidative stress and we think testosterone works through that system. Her new findings also bring some new ideas about what post-menopausal women can do to possibly reduce the occurrence of hypertension. The associate professor of physiology and biophysics is considered one of the world's leading experts on the mechanisms of gender differences in hypertension and renal disease. Reckelhoff's work increasingly is reflected in medical literature and in the recommendations of such major medical centers as the Mayo Clinic. She also receives funding from the American Heart Association.
Men become hypertensive earlier and more frequently than women.
But, after menopause, blood pressure in women goes up even more so than in men of the same age, Reckelhoff noted. Initially, scientists hypothesized that the estrogen depletion in aging women was the trigger, but that no longer is believed to be the cause. Women who take hormone replacement don't escape the increased incidence of hypertension, she said. Testosterone may naturally increase in women as estrogen naturally decreases during menopause. Women have the same testosterone as found in men, but less than one-tenth as much, Reckelhoff said.