Prehypertension Triples Risk of Heart Attack

Prehypertension, the state of not having clinical hypertension (high blood pressure), but still not being of normal blood pressure, has been found to be a huge risk factor for heart disease in a recent study by Dr. Adnan Qureshi et al published in the journal Stroke. The research is based upon a reanalysis of data from the much respected Framingham Study.

Dr. Qureshi estimates that a potential 47% of heart attacks could be prevented by removing Prehypertension from patients within the USA. Prehypertension affects some 59 million people within the country.

Defined as a systolic pressure between 120 and 139 mmHg, or a diastolic pressure of 80 to 89 mmHg, prehypertension is the cardiac version of obesity's spare tyre, so the marked influence of what has been generally considered a benign but guiding condition has come as a surprise.

The high risk factors associated with prehypertension are not reflected in a raised risk of stroke, a finding which surprised the authors. The authors suggested that a low incidence of stroke within the study may be the cause of this finding.

The findings suggest that patients with prehypertension should be treated more aggressively than previous treatments which have been advisory regimes of light exercise and improvement of diet.