Cardiovascular risk and use of estrogens or estrogen-progestagen combinations. Stanford three-community study

Cardiovascular risk factors were assess in 986 women residing in three northern California communities. Women who reported current use of oral contraceptives had higher plasma triglyceride levels and systolic and diastolic blood pressures compared with women not using these agents, after adjusting for age and for the greater relative leannes of oral contraceptive users. Similar increases, albeit of lesser magnitude, were observed in women who used pure estrogens. Mexican-American women appeared to be more susceptible to the effects of estrogens, perhaps as a consequence of their greater degree of obesity.