It has often been said that High Blood Pressure is very much an equal opportunity disease and condition in that it is just as likely to affect women as it is men.

The surprising nature of High Blood Pressure and it's affect on women is that three out of very four women with high blood pressure are aware of the fact that they have it but research has shown that less than one out of every three women are making any attempt to control their high blood pressure.

I guess as far as Women and High Blood Pressure are concerned the debate falls pretty much into two topics: Menopause and High Blood Pressure and is there a connection and High Blood Pressure and Pregnancy. This article will attempt to consider the relationship between the Menopause and HighBlood Pressure.

These are two key occurrences in a Woman's life? How do I know? Firstly I am a father and I well remember (fondly) the entire period of my wife's pregnancy and all that entailed. The second subject? Well let's just say I know (at the risk of incurring the ire of "she who must be obeyed") and leave it at that.

The Menopause and High Blood Pressure is probably a combination of the "big guy upstairs" reminding us that life really isn't fair and if having to come to terms with a whole series of unfortunate physical changes isn't enough then along comes high blood pressure to boot when you least expect it!

So what does it all entail? Does the onset of the menopause affect high blood pressure?

Before the menopause, women tend to have slightly lower diastolic pressure and systolic pressure than the men do. As has been mentioned on quite a few occasions, it is after the menopause that the systolic pressure in women increases by about 5 mm Hg.

These increases can be attributed to a number of factors partly related to potential increased salt sensitivity and potential weight gain that in turn are associated with Hormone changes that occur during menopause. Sadly, Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) that many women either undertake voluntarily or have prescribed for them may also contribute to increases in blood pressure. An additional factor to take into consideration here also is that women who are over 50 who also take HRT may also have a small increase on average systolic pressure (1-2 mm Hg). These women are 25 percent more likely to suffer from high blood pressure than are women who don't take HRT.

The important aspect to remember in all of this is that there are steps that can be taken to control any onset of high blood pressure after the menopause. Basically these revolve around various basic lifestyle changes that can bring a tremendous benefit.

You would not realise how much benefit you could achieve from reducing Sodium in your diet, increase the level of physical activity, generally aim to keep to a fairly healthy diet i.e. lost of fresh fruit and vegetables etc and cutting back and being sensible with the time honoured twin vices of Alcohol and Tobacco!

It is important to realise however that not all cases of high blood pressure are going to be dealt with successfully just through lifestyle changes. Sometimes that just isn't possible and medication has an important bearing on these matters also. Of the wide range of medication available for the treatment of high blood pressure, in these cases diuretics have shown to be extremely effective as many women have reported that incidences of general fluid retention tend to rise with the onset of the menopause.