CVM Cardiovascular Medicine 1664-204X 1664-2031 EMH Schweizerischer Ärzteverlag AG Farnsburgerstrasse 8 CH-4132 Muttenz 02267 10.4414/cvm.2023.02267 Review article Hypertension Hypertension in women: what is different? Huegli Sophie Service of Nephrology and Hypertension | SWITZERLAND Péchère Antoinette Antoinette.Pechere@unige.ch SWITZERLAND 17 05 2023 26 03 74 78 Copyright: EMH Schweizerischer Ärzteverlag AG 2023 EMH Schweizerischer Ärzteverlag AG "Cardiovascular Medicine" is an open access publication of EMH published in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons licence attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivatives 4.0 International. You are free to share, copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format under the following terms: Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material. "Non-commercial" means not primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation. The incorporation of publications in commercial products, the use of publications to advertise for commercial products or services and any other usage that directly or indirectly pursues commercial interests is subject to the express previous consent of the publishing house as part of a written agreement. Please send us your request in writing. Exact indication of the publication from which you would like to reproduce material and detailed information about its intended use help to facilitate and expedite request processing.

Hypertension is the number one killer for women, with a greater burden for women than men and
it is an important risk factor for target organ damage. Women are less frequently affected by arterial
hypertension than men during their reproductive life, but their risk catches up and exceeds
men’s after menopause. There is a knowledge gap about the specificity of arterial hypertension
in women due to an under inclusion of women in clinical trials. Hypertensive disorders during
pregnancy are a recognised ulterior cardiovascular risk factor and obstetrical history must be part
of the evaluation of hypertensive women. Furthermore, efficient cardiovascular prevention must
be applied after pregnancies. Both endogenous and exogenous female sex hormones influence
the blood pressure (BP) across life course, with specific characteristics relating to pregnancy, lactation,
oral contraceptives, menopause, hormones substitution and elderly women. Altogether,
effective treatment and control of hypertension ameliorates cardiovascular issues. Concerning
medical treatment, due to the lack of data we propose to lower the doses of antihypertensive
medications in women, due to increased efficiency and increased risk of secondary effects, most
notably for thiazide diuretics and calcium channel blockers.