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  • Title: [Hormonal contraceptives and arterial hypertension].
    Author: Janaszek-Sitkowska H.
    Journal: Pol Tyg Lek; ; 39(40-41):1341-3. PubMed ID: 6393087.
    Abstract:
    A literature review is presented to show that oral contraceptives (OCs) can cause arterial hypertension in women. The occurrence of this side effect varies over the broad range of 1-15%. Thus, in a Polish study of 100 women, the occurrence of hypertension after 1, 3, and 4 years of OC use was 1%, 8%, and 16%, respectively. Most studies on hypertension caused by OCs were performed with pills containing 50-100 mc of estrogens and 1-4 mg of gestagen. Through these studies, a strong correlation was established between the occurrence of hypertension and the dose of estrogens. Normal blood pressure was observed over 3 years in women using pills containing 20-30 ug of estrogens and 150-250 mc of gestagen. Most OCs are combinations of synthetic estrogens with progesterone. Estrogens appear to dominate in the pathogenesis of hypertension caused by OCs. The mechanism of action of estrogens on arterial blood pressure is not clear. Several hypotheses have been proposed, and some of them are briefly discussed. Numerous studies prove that the occurrence of hypertension increases with the age of the woman using OCs. From this review, the conclusion is drawn that physicians should not recommend hormonal agents to women with hypertensive cardiovascular disorders or susceptibility to contraceptive-induced hypertension. Changing from high-to low-dose steroid preparations could become an important step in the future development of OCs.
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