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People with prehypertension at risk

I read a number of articles this week about a study showing that many people have prehypertension -- and if you do -- you are at a higher risk of heart disease and heart attacks.

I would recommend reading the FoxNews article for a good summary of the study (and prehypertension). The article can be read quickly and gets straight to the point. Another article on the same story can be found at Medical News Today.

Some interesting points from the FoxNews article:

• In the US about 59 million people have prehypertension. (That is about triple the whole population of Australia ... a lot of people!)
• Prehypertension is indicated by blood pressure readings between 120/80 (normal) and 140/90 (hypertension). The Medical News Today article refers to this as the "gray zone"
• If you have prehypertension you are: "more than three times more likely to have a heart attack and 1.7 times more likely to have heart disease than a person with normal blood pressure"

That is hard to argue with!

The study was headed by Dr. Qureshi, a professor at the University of Medicine of New Jersey, and released in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

According to Dr. Qureshi, "prehypertension" was named only a year or so ago, and most doctors and patients do not know the implications of being prehypertensive.

I noticed the MedicineNet.com definition of prehypertension says that "Lifestyle changes" are prescribed for people with prehypertension. Maybe this is about to change. Dr. Qureshi is reported as saying: "these findings raise the question of whether we should treat prehypertensive patients more aggressively.".

This reminds me of a quote in an article by Dr Cameron: "if you are on hypertension or BP treatment – then your target level - is the lowest level you can tolerate without feeling light headed, faint or dizzy."

It sounds like when it comes to high blood pressure, the lower you go the better!

Steve's note: My Blood Pressure defaults to using 120/80 as the levels that indicate a high reading. This means that prehypertension readings as well as hypertension readings are highlighted. (The chart lines change color above 120/80 and those readings are printed in red in the report). See the Change the high reading levels help topic for more information.

Sources:

Source: Medical News Today
Prehypertension triples heart attack risk

Source: Fox News
Blood Pressure Over Normal? Nip It in the Bud

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