Ask the experts - blood pressure

Q. I know there seems to be some connection between highblood pressure and menopause, but what about high blood pressure and hotflashes?

A. There may indeed be a link between high blood pressure(hypertension) and hot flashes, according to the results of a study publishedin the March/April 2007 issue of Menopause: The Journal of the North AmericanMenopause Society. In fact, this may be the first study to suggest such arelationship.

In the study, a portable monitor recorded the blood pressureof 154 women between 18 and 65 years of age (average age: 46). The women had nohistory of cardiovascular disease and had either normal blood pressure or mildhypertension. About a third of the women reported having had a hot flash within the previous two weeks. Theaverage blood pressure among these women was significantly higher than amongthe women who hadn’t experienced hot flashes, even when other risk factors forhigh blood pressure were taken into account. This was true whether the women werepre-menopausal, menopausal, or post-menopausal.

High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heartdisease, and heart disease is a particularly serious health threat for womenage 50 and older. Thus, researchers want to learn more about the relationshipbetween high blood pressure and hot flashes, and reducing the impact hot flashes may have on a woman’s bloodpressure.

Q. My 70-year-old father was hospitalized for about a weekwith pneumonia. During his stay, his doctors gave him blood thinners. Why didhe need blood thinners if he wasn’t being treated for a heart or blood vesselailment?

A. Blood thinners don’t really thin the blood; rather, theymake the blood less able to clot. So your father was given thesedrugs—officially known as anticoagulants—to prevent blood clots from formingwhile he was hospitalized for treatment and not able to move around. Bloodclots in the deep veins of the legs are a dangerous side effect of beingimmobile for long periods, which is a problem during a hospital stay.

Even if your dad had no symptoms of blood clots in his legveins—known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT)—the anti-coagulants may have beenprescribed as a preventive measure, because people who are lying down forextended periods and not using their legs are unlikely to feel pain symptomsrelated to DVT. Having DVT raises the risk of pulmonary embolism. In thislife-threatening condition, a blood clot in the leg travels to an artery in thelung (a pulmonary artery) and blocks blood flow to the lungs. Pulmonaryembolism can happen very quickly, resulting in sudden death.

Your father’s older age, the fact that he was being treatedfor an infectious disease (pneumonia), and his limited mobility for more thanthree days were all indications that he was at risk for DVT and thereforerequired preventive treatment.

Questions areselected that reflect the wide variety of health problems of general interest.We cannot, however, respond specifically to the personal health concerns of anindividual.