Hypertension May Be Inflammatory Disease

A study of more than 20,000 women provides evidence that high blood pressure in part may be an inflammatory disease, a finding that could provide new avenues for treatment, researchers said on Tuesday.

A study of more than 20,000 women provides evidence that high blood pressure in part may be an inflammatory disease, a finding that could provide new avenues for treatment, researchers said on Tuesday. The report from Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital said the conclusion was based on a blood protein that is a marker for inflammation and that appears to be a predictor of high blood pressure. “Besides some long-established lifestyle and dietary risk factors, little else is known about how to identify individuals at risk for developing high blood pressure,” said Dr. Howard Sesso, lead author of the study published in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association. “This has made primary prevention efforts difficult. The data from this study are exciting as they represent the first major demonstration that C-reactive protein levels may help us predict the risk of developing hypertension,” Sesso added. Increased levels of the protein are associated with chronic activation of the immune system, otherwise known as an inflammatory response. The researchers monitored 20,525 women aged 45 or older for high blood pressure over eight years. Those who had high levels of the protein at the start had a 52 percent higher risk of developing hypertension, the study found. “This significant increase in risk was present even among those with very low levels of blood pressure when they entered the study, and was also seen among healthier women without many traditional coronary risk factors,” Sesso said. The article said that researchers already have found that inflammation plays a crucial role in the development of heart disease and that inflammation can be measured easily with a simple and inexpensive blood test for the telltale protein. “We already know that (the protein) is a stronger predictor of heart attack risk than cholesterol,” said Paul Ridker, another author. “The current data linking (it) to the development of high blood pressure tells us that inflammation may play a major role in the development of vascular disease throughout the body. If we can predict and prevent the onset of high blood pressure, then we will be well on our way toward the prevention of stroke,” he said.” The next step, Ridker added, was “to find out whether therapies targeting inflammation itself can be used to reduce the risk of these devastating events.” (Source: Journal of the American Medical Association, MEDLINE Plus)