Skip to main content
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Digital Health
    • Transformation
    • ESG
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Blogs
    • AI
    • Deals
    • Layoff Tracker
    • HIMSS 2023
  • Opinion
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • From the Editor
  • Events & Awards
    • Awards
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • 40 Under 40
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
      • - Leaders to Watch
    • Women Leaders
    • Digital Health Transformation Summit
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • - Looking Ahead to 2024
    • - AI and Digital Health
    • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
  • Multimedia
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • Sponsored Video Series - Checking In with Dan Peres
  • Data & Insights
    • Data & Insights Home
    • Hospital Financials
    • Staffing & Compensation
    • Quality & Safety
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Data Archive
    • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
    • Surveys
    • Data Points
  • Newsletters
  • MORE+
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Providers
February 03, 2014 11:00 PM

Tracking high blood pressure may help predict atherosclerosis risk, JAMA study shows

Sabriya Rice
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More

    Individuals who experience consistent increases in blood pressure starting around their 20s are more likely to develop atherosclerosis by the time they reach middle-age, according to a new study that followed 4,681 patients for 25 years. Monitoring long-term patterns of changes in blood pressure may help physicians more accurately identify a patient's risk of developing heart disease, the authors said.

    Though high blood pressure is a well-known predictor of heart disease risk, most models take into account blood pressure at only a single point in time, usually when the patient is already middle-aged or older. The study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, followed patients from young adulthood to middle-age, taking note of differences in blood pressure over time in trajectories ranging from low and stable, to elevated and increasing. This is “a novel approach” to assessing coronary heart disease, an accompanying editorial said.

    “The data offer an important perspective to support a preventive approach to reduce coronary heart disease risk by demonstrating the existence of widely different BP trajectories ranging from young adulthood through middle age,” the editorial said. “Further research is warranted to explore the associations of BP trajectories with development of advancing chronic kidney disease and heart failure and to provide novel tools for risk prediction to guide interventions for BP lowering in everyday practice.”

    The findings also offer insight into health disparities. Individuals with blood pressure in the low-stable trajectory were more likely to be female, white and more highly educated, while those with blood pressure in the “increasing” trajectories—meaning they experienced rapid increases in blood-pressure levels, starting at an average age of 35—were more likely to be African-American. They also were more likely to be smokers and have elevated BMI levels.

    About 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. has high blood pressure, meaning their levels remain at or above 140/90 mmHg. The condition often has no signs or symptoms, and patient may go undiagnosed for years while high blood pressure leads to damage in the heart, blood vessels, kidneys and other parts of the body, according to the NIH. High blood pressure is a major risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis, a build-up of plaque inside the arteries, which can eventually lead to a heart attack.

    Follow Sabriya Rice on Twitter: @MHSRice

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    medical staff vaccination
    Nursing home staff show low COVID-19 vaccination rates
    Dollar sign money
    Local Infusion scores $10M in funding, plans expansion
    Most Popular
    1
    Cigna Medicare Advantage future murky amid sale speculation
    2
    Cigna, Humana in talks for merger this year: WSJ
    3
    Teladoc CEO tamps down expectations of GLP-1s
    4
    BJC, Saint Luke's of Kansas City merger to close soon
    5
    Community Health Systems seeks growth through acquisitions
    Sponsored Content
    Modern Healthcare A.M. Newsletter: Sign up to receive a comprehensive weekday morning newsletter designed for busy healthcare executives who need the latest and most important healthcare news and analysis.
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Help Center
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Digital Health
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • ESG
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Blogs
      • AI
      • Deals
      • Layoff Tracker
      • HIMSS 2023
    • Opinion
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • From the Editor
    • Events & Awards
      • Awards
        • Nominate/Eligibility
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • 40 Under 40
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top Innovators
        • Diversity in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
          • - Leaders to Watch
        • Women Leaders
      • Conferences
        • Digital Health Transformation Summit
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Looking Ahead to 2024
        • - AI and Digital Health
        • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
      • Webinars
    • Multimedia
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
      • Sponsored Video Series - Checking In with Dan Peres
    • Data & Insights
      • Data & Insights Home
      • Hospital Financials
      • Staffing & Compensation
      • Quality & Safety
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Data Archive
      • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
      • Surveys
      • Data Points
    • Newsletters
    • MORE+
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing