 Researchers Say Study Points Out ‘Missed Opportunities’ to Prevent Heart Disease
You’re a 40 plus years of age woman and you have just found out that you have high blood pressure, what do you do about it? You take steps to lower your blood pressure of course? Or do you? Many women in fact do not. But is this healthy in the long run?
For years doctors have preached that both men and women should lower their blood pressure if they have a diagnosis of high blood pressure, but we had little evidence that this was actually the right thing to do. Now a new study suggests that middle-aged women who take steps to lower their blood pressure could significantly reduce their risk of having a stroke, heart attack, or developing heart failure.
A group of researchers now say they found that high systolic pressure, that is the blood pressure when the heart contracts, is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease and its complications in middle-aged and older women.
They report that 36% of serious cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes are preventable by lowering blood pressure in women. This is striking when compared to the fact that only 24% of men will likely benefit from the same treatment programs.
Investigators examined data from 9,357 adults in 11 countries in Europe, Asia, and South America for a median of 11 years. The researchers looked for absolute and relative risks of cardiovascular disease that were associated with systolic blood pressure. There study ultimately suggest that three major risk factors account for 85% of the modifiable risk for heart disease in men and women, 1) high systolic (the top number) blood pressure, 2) high cholesterol, and 3) smoking. Of these three high systolic pressure clearly appears to be the most important risk factor, according to their research.
Prevention of Heart Disease
Doctor, Jan A. Staessen, MD, PhD, of the University of Leuven in Belgium stated as this report was released, “I was surprised by the study findings that highlight the missed opportunities for prevention of heart disease in older women.” He told reporters that the research team found that a relatively small increase of 15 points in systolic blood pressure could increase the risk of cardiovascular disease by 56% in women and 32% in men.
During this study, researchers looked at blood pressure, measuring blood pressure at set intervals for 24 hours during a person’s daily routine and when they slept, as well as conventional blood pressure readings taken in doctors’ offices. The researchers reported that ambulatory blood pressure readings have less potential for error and provide more accurate estimates of usual blood pressure and prognosis for cardiovascular disease.
The monitor used for ambulatory readings was a small, portable device programmed to take blood pressures at specific intervals. In the study, ambulatory readings were taken at intervals of 15 to 30 minutes during the daytime, and 30 to 45 minutes at night.
According to the researchers, nighttime readings were better predictors of heart disease than daytime readings because the readings taken at night were more standardized. Blood pressures taken at night are less likely to be influenced by physical activity.
Quality of Life
Dr. Staessen suggested, “It is recognized that women live longer than men, but that older women usually report lower quality of life than men. By lowering systolic pressure by 15 [points] in hypertensive women, there would be an increased benefit in quality of life by prevention of cardiovascular disease.”
The researchers suggested that women and their doctors ought to become more aggressive in diagnosing and treating high systolic blood pressure.
For more information on what high blood pressure is and how to treat it holistic treatment of high blood pressure, click on respective links.
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