Key result
Menopause status alters the exercise pressor reflex, attenuating it premenopause and augmenting it postmenopause.
Why the study?
This review aimed to highlight the underlying mechanisms responsible for sex differences in the exercise pressor reflex, focusing on the impact of sex hormones and menopausal status.
How do sex, menstrual cycle, and menopause status influence the exercise pressor reflex and blood pressure response during exercise?
How do sex, menstrual cycle, and menopause status influence the exercise pressor reflex and blood pressure response during exercise?
Menopause status significantly alters the exercise pressor reflex, shifting from an attenuated response in premenopausal women to an augmented, exaggerated blood pressure response in postmenopausal women.
Supports accounting for menopausal status in exercise BP assessment; leaves open randomized trials to establish clinical impact.
In this review, we highlight the underlying mechanisms responsible for the sex differences in the exercise pressor reflex (EPR), and, importantly, the impact of sex hormones and menopausal status. The EPR is attenuated in premenopausal women compared with age-matched men. Specifically, activation of the metaboreflex (a component of the EPR) results in attenuated increases in blood pressure and sympathetic vasomotor outflow compared with age-matched men. In addition, premenopausal women exhibit less transduction of sympathetic outflow to the peripheral vasculature than men. In stark contrast, postmenopausal women exhibit an augmented EPR arising from exaggerated metaboreflex-induced autonomic and cardiovascular reflexes. We propose that metaboreflex-induced autonomic and cardiovascular changes associated with menopause majorly contribute to the elevated blood pressure response during dynamic exercise in postmenopausal women. In addition, we discuss the potential mechanisms by which sex hormones in premenopausal women may impact the EPR as well as metaboreflex.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Smith et al. (2018) conducted a review in Exercise pressor reflex. Sex hormones and menopausal status vs. Age-matched men was evaluated on Exercise pressor reflex (EPR). Menopausal status impacts the exercise pressor reflex, which is attenuated in premenopausal women compared with age-matched men, but augmented in postmenopausal women during dynamic exercise.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: