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Estrogen Plays Role in Stress

Posted on: Monday, 26 June 2006, 18:00 CDT

Estrogen seems to play a different role during stress in black and white girls, which may help explain higher cardiovascular disease rates in U.S. blacks.

The researchers found estrogen levels drop during stress in healthy African-American girls but remain consistent in whites, said Dr. Gregory Harshfield, director of the Medical College of Georgia's Georgia Prevention Institute.

Estrogen, which helps blood vessels dilate, is good for your blood vessels and if you lose that protection during periods of stress in the day it may contribute to the early development of heart disease we typically see in black women, says Harshfield.

The researchers looked at 48 mostly female teens with normal blood pressure and found the greatest changes in blood-pressure response to stress in black girls and blood samples taken before, during and one hour after playing a competitive video game.

Conventional thinking tells us estrogen is not normally a major player in regulating blood pressure during stress, says Harshfield. This tells us sex hormones do play a role in regulating blood pressure but, unfortunately, it's a bad one in black females.

The findings were presented at the 21st Annual International Interdisciplinary Conference on Hypertension and Related Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Ethnic Populations in Atlanta.

Source: United Press International

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