for eMaxHealthBlood Pressure
In a follow-up study of 50-year-olds, those with normal blood pressure lived longer and spent more years of life free of cardiovascular diseases compared to those with high blood pressure, researchers report in today's Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Men with normal blood pressure survived 7.2 years longer without cardiovascular disease compared to men with high blood pressure, and spent 2.1 fewer years of their lives with cardiovascular disease. There were similar differences in the women studied. Total life expectancy for people with normal blood pressure was 5.1 years longer in men and 4.9 years longer in women than in people with high blood pressure.
High blood pressure is systolic (top number) pressure of 140 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or higher and/or a diastolic (bottom number) pressure of 90 mm Hg or higher. Prehypertension (previously called "high-normal" blood pressure) is 120-139 mm Hg systolic or 80-89 diastolic. Normal blood pressure is less than 120 mm Hg systolic and less than 80 mm Hg diastolic.
The analysis was based on 3,128 participants in the Framingham Heart Study; 1,364 men and 1,764 women, who reached age 50 while enrolled in that study.
"Hypertension is associated with more years lived with cardiovascular disease," said lead author Oscar Franco, M.D., D.Sc., a researcher in the Department of Public Health at Erasmus M.C. University Medical Center in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
This study is the first report from a large and continuously followed group showing in both sexes the effect of high blood pressure levels on total life expectancy and life expectancy with and without heart disease, heart attack and stroke, Franco said.
He said the association between high blood pressure and shorter life expectancy is stronger than previously estimated. "This emphasizes the need to improve blood pressure control."
This study differs from others because researchers analyzed more than one blood pressure reading and examined life expectancy with and without heart disease. The average follow-up of the study participants was 27.5 years.
Current guidelines from the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC-7) were used to classify the study participants into three groups: normal, high normal (prehypertension) and high blood pressure. Researchers examined the combined measures of systolic and diastolic pressure.
Franco urged the public to take action to protect themselves against developing high blood pressure and its harmful consequences.
"Lifestyle modification is important to control blood pressure," he said. He recommends a heart-healthy diet, regular physical activity, and weight control, as set forth in guidelines from the American Heart Association.
He also urged physicians to focus more on preventing high blood pressure by using all means available to educate their patients, particularly those over age 40.
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Since 1924 the American Heart Association has helped protect people of all ages and ethnicities from the ravages of heart disease and stroke. These diseases, the nation's No. 1 and No. 3 killers, claim more than 930,000 American lives a year. The association invested more than $439 million in fiscal year 2003-04 for research, professional and public education, and advocacy so people across America can live stronger, longer lives. DALLAS, June 28
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