High Blood pressure may lead to cardio event -study

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Individuals with
“prehypertension,” blood pressure readings on the high end of
normal, have an increased risk of having a major cardiovascular
event, according to a report in the Annals of Family Medicine.

In May 2003, the Joint National Commission on High Blood
Pressure introduced prehypertension as new risk category. The
condition was defined as having a systolic blood pressure – the
top number — between 120 and 139 mm Hg or a diastolic pressure
- the bottom number — between 80 and 90 mm Hg.

Dr. Heather A. Liska, from the Medical University of South
Carolina in Charleston, and colleagues analyzed data from
nearly 9,000 subjects who participated in the National Health
and Nutrition Examination Survey I between 1971 and 1975. The
subjects were followed for 18 years for major cardiovascular
events.

Individuals with prehypertension had a 32 percent increased
risk of cardiovascular disease. One or more cardiovascular risk
factors were noted in 93 percent of those with prehypertension.

Further analysis showed that only the highest pressures in
the prehypertension category raised the risk of cardiovascular
disease. For example, a systolic pressure of 130 to 139 mm Hg
or a diastolic pressure of 85 to 89 mm Hg increased the risk by
42 percent compared with those normal blood pressure levels,
whereas lower prehypertensive pressures did not have a
significant effect.

By comparison, subjects with overt hypertension had more
than double the risk of having a major cardiovascular event
compared with those with normal blood pressure, the
investigators point out.

“With current knowledge alone, prehypertension should serve
as an early warning system for patients and clinicians that
metabolic changes which ultimately lead to cardiovascular
disease may well be underway,” Liska’s team concludes.