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Blood Pressure Rates on Rise in U.S. Study Finds

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More Americans than ever have high blood pressure and the number has risen by nearly a third over the past decade, researchers reported on Monday.

The usual suspects are to blame — aging, obesity, a lack of exercise and too much junk food, the U.S. government research team found.At least 65 million Americans have hypertension, defined as blood pressure of 140/90 or more, a medical diagnosis of high blood pressure or the use of drugs to lower blood pressure. This equals nearly a third of U.S. adults, the researchers said.They found the number of adults with high blood pressure increased by 30 percent from 1988 to 2000.Writing in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension, the researchers said they analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which included 4,531 adults.”High blood pressure is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, kidney failure, heart failure, stroke and other conditions,” said Dr. Larry Fields of the Department of Health and Human Services, who led the study.Blood pressure clearly rises with age and is equally prevalent in women and men. Blacks have a higher risk than other groups.”It has been demonstrated that interventions that center on health behavior, such as getting regular physical activity, controlling weight, and eating a nutritious diet that includes lots of fruits and vegetables and moderate amounts of salt, can reduce a person’s chances of developing high blood pressure,” said Fields, currently an associate professor of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis.”The hypertension trend is not unexpected given the increase in obesity and an aging population,” said Dr. Barbara Alving, Acting Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.”This is not healthy aging!”But she noted that Americans are beginning to develop high blood pressure at ever-younger ages.A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found blood pressure steadily rising among U.S. children.Researchers universally agree that regular exercise and a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains and low in processed foods are the first steps to reducing high blood pressure or the risk of developing it. Drugs can also lower blood pressure.(Source: Hypertension: Reuters Health News: Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent: August 2004.)


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Posted On: 25 August, 2004
Modified On: 3 December, 2013

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