EFFECT OF MENOPAUSE ON BLOOD PRESSURE

BACKGROUND Menopause is the transient phase of the aging process during which a woman passes from the reproductive to non reproductive stage associated with increased chances of obesity and increased co morbidities like hypertension, hyper-cholestrelemia, impaired cognitive function and cardio vascular dysfunction. Hypertension is one of the major cardiovascular risk factor for the excess mortality and morbidity in postmenopausal women. AIM AND OBJECTIVE To study the effect of Body Mass Index and FSH on Blood Pressure in Pre,Peri and Post-Menopausal Women.DESIGN Descriptive with purposive sampling.PARTICIPANTS The study involved 300 women aged 40-55 years and divided into three groups based on the three definitions used for menopause self reported menstrual history (pre menopausal) with last menstrual period 60 days, peri menopausal women with LMP 60-365 days and post menopausal women with last menstrual period 365 days. Women who were diabetic, hypertensive, alcoholic, smoker, amenorrhoeic due to hysterectomy were identified and excluded from the study.METHODOLOGY Standardised measurements of weight, height and Blood Pressure were done. Blood samples were collected after overnight fast and FSH was measured using Serum Chemiluminesscent immune metric assay. Statistical analysis was performed by chi-square test to find the association between Age, BMI and FSH on Blood pressure in pre, peri and post menopausal women.RESULTS The Peri and Post-menopausal women had significantly higher BMI, (p0.05), and significant increase in Blood pressure (p0.05). There is no significant difference in FSH among the three groups (P0.292, 0.296, 0.596). Blood pressure is elevated among postmenopausal women when compared with Pre and Perimenopausal women (p0.05).CONCLUSION These findings suggest that rise in BP after menopause appeared to be due to aging and increased BMI rather than declining ovarian function.