Hypertension of woman. Oral contraception and menopause.

There are three circumstances where hypertension develops specifically in w omen: oral contraception, pregnancy, and menopause. Oral contraception usua lly shifts the blood pressure moderately upwards, but hypertension appears in less than 5% of women. Still it may (rarely) be very severe. Hypertensio n is poorly related to the dosage of the estrogenic compound, but rather to the nature and dosage of the progestive part. This hypertension does not s ignificantly increase the cardiovascular risk of these women. The role of menopause itself in the trigging of hypertension remains uncert ain. It seems however that confounding factors such as age, body weight, so dium balance and so on explain the increased incidence of hypertension afte r menopause. The latter is also associated with an increase of cardiovascul ar risk, which requires adequate treatment. Hormone replacement therapy is not contra-indicated, even in hypertensive patients.