Because of its effects in reducing health risks such as heart disease, many women start taking estrogen supplements when they reach menopause. Yet new evidence in animals suggests that treatment should start before menopause begins. But our findings suggest that estrogen supplementation may be important for a woman nearing or going through perimenopause. The research appeared in a recent issue of the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology . The researchers studied a strain of rats that develops hypertension at around 4 months of age.
Women often experience a rise in blood pressure when they reach menopause.
In CHF, the heart loses its ability to pump blood. The ovaries were removed before the rats developed signs of hypertension. The rest of the rats neither received estrogen nor had their ovaries removed. In the second group, all rats had reached menopause naturally. Eight were given estrogen supplements, and the rest were given a placebo.