LACK OF EFFECT OF ESTROGEN ON REST AND TREADMILL EXERCISE IN POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN WITHOUT KNOWN CARDIAC DISEASE

To assess the peripheral vascular effects of estrogen in women without coronary disease, normal postmenopausal women (mean age 56 +/- 8 year s) participated in a randomized, crossover trial using treadmill exerc ise echocardiography, and received oral conjugated estrogen, 0.625 mg/ day or underwent a drug-free period. There was no significant effect o n heart rate, blood pressure, double product, left ventricular end-sys tolic and end-diastolic diameters, or electrocardiographic measures af ter estrogen. In contrast to the profound effects reported in patients with cardiac disease, oral estrogen in normal women does not bestow s ignificant benefit on treadmill exercise echocardiographic variables a t rest or during modest levels of exercise.