Does exercise with hormone therapy affect blood pressure in menopause? What 14 studies found

A meta-analysis of seven trials in postmenopausal women found combined aerobic exercise and hormone therapy lowered systolic blood pressure more than aerobic exercise alone, but exercise alone improved fitness more.

Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 386 participants pooled · 2023PostmenopausalCited 4 timesPubMed

Postmenopausal women did a moderate exercise program with or without estrogen for 6 months, and exercise alone reduced cholesterol and LDL and increased fitness.

Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 101 women · 26 weeks · 1994PostmenopausalCited 60 timesPubMed

Postmenopausal women aged 60 to 72 did 11 months of endurance exercise, hormone therapy, both, or neither, and exercise lowered total and LDL cholesterol while HRT raised HDL cholesterol.

No difference foundRandomised trial · 71 women · 44 weeks · 1996PostmenopausalCited 57 timesPubMed

Healthy postmenopausal women took cyclic hormone therapy for 3 months and researchers found it increased peripheral blood flow during exercise but did not improve peak oxygen uptake or exercise tolerance.

Direction not statedRandomised trial · 31 women · 12 weeks · 2004PostmenopausalCited 24 timesPubMed

In healthy postmenopausal women, 6 months of cycle ergometer aerobic training three times weekly improved forearm blood flow and reduced sympathetic nerve activity, regardless of estrogen therapy.

No difference foundRandomised trial · 45 women · 26 weeks · 2014PostmenopausalCited 17 timesPubMed

Healthy postmenopausal women walked for 12 weeks with or without hormone therapy, and both groups showed improved peak oxygen uptake regardless of hormone use.

No difference foundRandomised trial · 23 women · 12 weeks · 2009PostmenopausalCited 19 timesPubMed

Postmenopausal women did 6 months of cycle ergometer aerobic training with or without estrogen therapy, and aerobic training prevented the daytime blood pressure rise seen with estrogen alone.

Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 47 women · 26 weeks · 2011PostmenopausalCited 12 timesPubMed

In sedentary postmenopausal women on hormone therapy, a 3-month walking program increased carotid artery compliance by about 40%, reaching levels similar to premenopausal women.

Reported an improvementControlled trial · 12 women · 12 weeks · 2003PostmenopausalCited 143 timesPubMed

Healthy postmenopausal women took estrogen or placebo for 12 weeks in a crossover trial, and estrogen did not improve treadmill exercise tolerance, oxygen uptake, or blood pressure response to exercise.

No difference foundRandomised trial · 31 women · 12 weeks · 1996PostmenopausalCited 10 timesPubMed

Healthy postmenopausal women took low-dose estrogen or placebo for 6 months then cycled; estrogen did not change postexercise blood pressure or sympathetic nerve activity drops.

No difference foundRandomised trial · 18 women · 24 weeks · 2008PostmenopausalCited 8 timesPubMed

In postmenopausal women without cardiac disease, a crossover trial found oral estrogen had no significant effect on heart rate, blood pressure or treadmill exercise echocardiography measures.

No difference foundRandomised trial · 1997PostmenopausalCited 14 timesPubMed

Sedentary postmenopausal women took oral estrogen or placebo for 90 days and underwent exercise testing, with researchers finding estrogen did not improve exercise capacity.

No difference foundRandomised trial · 23 women · 13 weeks · 2005PostmenopausalCited 4 timesPubMed

In postmenopausal women with and without type 2 diabetes, blood pressure responses to isometric exercise were similar across groups and were not changed by one month of estrogen or hormone therapy.

No difference foundRandomised trial · 40 women · 4 weeks · 2002PostmenopausalCited 2 timesPubMed

In 23 postmenopausal women aged 44 to 75, 4 weeks of estrogen therapy lowered LDL and raised HDL cholesterol but did not change heart rate or blood pressure responses during treadmill exercise overall.

No difference foundRandomised trial · 23 women · 4 weeks · 1999PostmenopausalCited 1 timesPubMed