Estrogen replacement therapy. Effect on blood pressure and other cardiovascular risk factors

After menopause, women experience a rapid increase in the incidence of cardiovascular disease. Estrogen replacement therapy not only does not worsen the risk of coronary heart disease but actually seems to protect against it. Possible factors involved in this relation include estrogen's effects on lipids (causing a reduction in low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol and an increase in high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol) and its neutral or even protective effect on blood pressure.