Prehypertension in Women a Heart Risk

There’s no harm in reminding people, and women in particular, that blood pressure values were re-evaluated recently for their risk potential. A new category – ‘prehypertension’ – was created for blood pressures between 120 and 139 mm Hg systolic (the upper number) and 80 to 89 mm Hg diastolic (the lower number. Values in this range (either the systolic or the diastolic) in postmenopausal women have now been shown to be linked to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. As published in the journal Circulation, this category (originally defined in 2003) increased the risk of cardiovascular death by 58%, heart attack by 76%, stroke by 93%, hospitalization for heart failure by 36%, and any cardiac event by 66%. The comparison used was people in the same study (the Women’s Health Initiative) with normal blood pressure (less than 120/80 mm Hg).

All this makes it important to have your blood pressure checked regularly, whatever your gender. There’s a tendency for a high reading at a visit to the doctor to be brushed off by patient, nurse, and doctor as ‘white-coat hypertension’. Big mistake! In view of the statistics, one should make sure that such readings are followed up properly.