Does Estrogen Have a Positive Impact on Cardiac Function?
The use of hormone replacement therapy to reduce cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women is on the rise. One of the common cardiovascular diseases in postmenopausal women is left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD). The mechanism for estrogen’s positive impact appears to be multifactorial. One possibility suggested in recent studies is that estrogen may improve left ventricular diastolic function. Fak and associates studied the effects of estrogen on left ventricular diastolic function in hypertensive postmenopausal women with diastolic dysfunction. Postmenopausal women with elevated systemic blood pressure, impaired left diastolic filling and normal or increased left ventricular mass index were included in the study. A control group was used to compare the effect of estrogen on a healthy heart. None of the participants had received hormone replacement therapy before entering the study. The study design was a double-blinded, placebo-controlled crossover study. All of the pa
