Prehypertension raises cardiovascular risk

Prehypertension, a condition when the blood pressure levels are just below the cut-off for a diagnosis of high blood pressure increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that individuals with prehypertension, i.e. when their blood pressure is in the range of 120/80 to 139/89 mm Hg, who are elderly, obese, diabetic have a higher risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease. The researchers investigated the relationship between prehypertension and the risk of new cardiovascular disease in nearly 9,000 men and women participating in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study. At the beginning of the study, patients with high-normal blood pressure also had a greater prevalence of traditional risk factors for cardiovascular disease compared with the optimal blood pressure group. It was found that the rate of cardiovascular disease over the 11.6 years of follow-up increased significantly as blood pressure levels increased. Compared with patients with optimal blood pressure, those with high-normal blood pressure had a 2.5 fold risk of developing cardiovascular disease, after consideration of other recognised cardiovascular risk factors. Compared with optimal blood pressure, normal and high-normal blood pressure were associated with the development of cardiovascular disease among all subgroups, the results indicate. Most of the cardiovascular diseases that emerged were related to coronary heart disease rather than stroke. Cardiovascular disease risk was especially high among, diabetics, obese patients and those with LDL levels, the "bad" type of cholesterol, between 100 mg/dl and129 mg/dl. The findings suggest that prehypertension is clearly associated with a significant increase in cardiovascular disease.