More people, particularly the elderly, have their blood pressure under control as per a new study in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

While the prevalence of high blood pressure - the proportion of Americans with hypertension - was essentially unchanged from 26.8 percent in 1999-2000 to 29.3 percent in 2003-04, the overall rate of patients who had their hypertension controlled improved significantly, from 29.2 percent in 1999-2000 to 36.8 percent in 2003-04.

"This remarkable jump in the control rate has not been seen previously," said Bernard M.Y. Cheung, Ph.D., author of the study and an associate professor in the University Department of Medicine of Hong Kong. "The increased control rates may help to decrease the occurence rate of strokes and heart attacks, which is highly encouraging".

High blood pressure affects about 60 million adults in the United States, scientists said. It is a major risk factor for heart attack, stroke, heart failure and kidney failure.

In this study, high blood pressure was defined as blood pressure of 140/90 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or higher, or taking blood pressure-lowering medication. High blood pressure was considered to be controlled among those on therapy who had an average blood pressure below 140 over 90 mm Hg or below 130 over 80 mm Hg for diabetic patients with high blood pressure.

Scientists used information on 14,653 people in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2004 databases to examine trends in the prevalence, awareness, therapy and control of high blood pressure in the United States. They compared data gathered in 1999-2000 to data gathered in 2003-04.


Posted by: April    Source

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