Hypertension :: High Blood Pressure not controlled among older men and women

Nearly three-fourths of men and women age 80 and older have high blood pressure, but their conditions are frequently not kept under control, according to new data from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute?s (NHLBI) long-standing Framingham Heart Study. In this age group, only 38 percent of men and 23 percent of women had blood pressures that met targets set forth in the National High Blood Pressure Education Program?s (NHBPEP) clinical guidelines.

This study shows that while the rate of high blood pressure increased with age, numbers of people receiving treatment for the condition did not. Seventy-four percent of people age 80 and older had high blood pressure, compared with 63 percent of those age 60 to 79 and 27 percent of those under the age of 60. However, less than two thirds of hypertensive patients in the two older age groups received treatment.

High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is a major risk factor for the development of heart disease and a leading cause of many life-threatening conditions such as stroke, heart attack, and kidney failure.


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