Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, Vol 53, Issue 5 M344-M346, Copyright © 1998 by The Gerontological Society of America

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Arterial stiffness and hormone replacement use in healthy postmenopausal women

H Tanaka, CA DeSouza and DR Seals
Human Cardiovascular Research Laboratory, Center for Physical Activity, Disease Prevention, and Aging, University of Colorado at Boulder, Denver, USA. [email protected]

BACKGROUND: Arterial stiffness has been shown to be positively related to cardiovascular disease risk. Little, however, is known about the influence of hormone replacement use on arterial stiffness in females. METHODS: Arterial pulse wave velocity (PWV) and carotid augmentation index (AI, applanation tonometry) were measured in 34 healthy postmenopausal women, including users (n = 18) and nonusers (n = 16) of hormone replacement. RESULTS: There were no significant group differences in any of the physical characteristics including resting blood pressure. None of the measures of arterial stiffness differed between user and nonusers of hormone replacement. CONCLUSIONS: The present cross-sectional study indicates that reduced arterial stiffness does not appear to be a likely mechanism contributing to the lower incidence of cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women taking hormone replacement.

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