Could your menopause symptoms actually be high blood pressure?

A new report has urged women to investigate whether their menopause symptoms are actually high blood pressure.

Up to 50% of women develop high blood pressure before the age of 60 but the symptoms – for example hot flushes and palpitations – are often attributed to menopause.

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) has published a document in the European Heart Journal that cautions doctors and their female patients to be vigilant. 

“Physicians should intensify the detection of hypertension in middle-aged women,” states the consensus document.

Professor Angela Maas, director of the Netherlands Women’s Cardiac Health Programme, said: “We know that blood pressure is treated less well in women compared to men, putting them at risk for atrial fibrillation, heart failure and stroke – which could have been avoided.”

“A woman’s life provides clues that you need to start early with prevention,” Professor Maas said. “We have to assess female patients differently to men, and not just ask about high cholesterol. This will enable us to classify middle-aged women as high-risk or lower risk for cardiovascular disease.”

The report found that women who have an early natural menopause before the age of 40 are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease and that autoimmune inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus are more common in women compared to men. They also reported an increase likelihood of cardiovascular risk around the time of menopause.

“High blood pressure during pregnancy is a warning sign that hypertension may develop when a woman enters menopause and it is associated with dementia many decades later,” Professor Maas added. “If blood pressure is not addressed when women are in their 40s or 50s, they will have problems in their 70s when hypertension is more difficult to treat.

“Women can help their doctors prevent heart problems and make earlier diagnoses by mentioning issues like complicated pregnancies and early menopause and monitoring their own blood pressure.”