Frequent standing may improve blood pressure after menopause
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- Reviewed by Robert H. Shmerling, MD, Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
Postmenopausal women may be able to lower their blood pressure simply by standing up more often, according to a study published July 25, 2025, in Circulation.
Researchers divided 388 postmenopausal women who were overweight or obese (average age 68) into three groups. One group was asked to reduce the total amount of time spent sitting. The second group was asked to break up sitting time by standing up more often. The third didn’t receive any instructions about sitting. At the study’s start and three months later, participants underwent blood tests and blood pressure measurements. They also wore activity monitors for seven days.
Women in the “stand more often” group increased the average number of times they stood up by 26 per day; their diastolic blood pressure (the second number in a reading) dropped several points compared to the women who weren’t asked to change their sitting behavior. Meanwhile, those in the “sit less” group, who cut sitting time by an average of 75 minutes a day, did not show a significant change in blood pressure compared to the third group. The findings suggest that simply standing up more often — even without changing total sitting time — might boost postmenopausal women’s cardiovascular health, the researchers said.
Image: © Hinterhaus Productions/Getty Images
About the Author
Maureen Salamon, Executive Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch
About the Reviewer
Robert H. Shmerling, MD, Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
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