From 2002 to 2014, the number of people rushed to the hospital due to a sudden and dangerous spike in blood pressure more than doubled.
This condition is known as a hypertensive crisis. It’s very dangerous because it can cause a heart attack or stroke.
What’s surprising is this rise happened when more people were able to control their blood pressure. Studies even showed fewer heart problems related to high blood pressure during this period.
Why is This Happening?
Dr. Joseph E. Ebinger, a heart doctor at the Smidt Heart Institute, was the first author of this study. He said it’s not clear why more people are being hospitalized due to a hypertensive crisis.
He suggests a few possibilities. More people might not be able to afford their blood pressure medicines. Or they might not be taking enough of these medicines.
Or, things in their life might make it hard for them to live healthily. These things include a diet high in salt, not moving around much, smoking, or other unhealthy habits. These factors can make blood pressure rise.
“We need to figure out why this is happening,” said Dr. Ebinger. “We need to help patients avoid going to the hospital because of a hypertensive crisis.”
The Study’s Findings
The researchers looked at data from a big database. This database includes a small portion of all hospital visits in the U.S. From this data, they saw nationwide trends.
They found that hospital visits due to a hypertensive crisis more than doubled over 13 years. In 2002, these visits were 0.17% of all hospital visits for men.
But in 2014, these visits were 0.39%. For women, these visits were 0.16% of all visits in 2002 and 0.34% in 2014.
The researchers estimated that there were about 918,392 hospital visits and 4,377 deaths in the hospital due to a hypertensive crisis from 2002 to 2014.
One good news is that the chance of dying from a hypertensive crisis decreased a bit during this period.
Even though women had fewer health problems than men, they died at the same rate as men when they were hospitalized for a hypertensive crisis.
Questions and More Research Needed
Dr. Susan Cheng, a senior author of the study, wondered why this is the case.
She asked if there are biological reasons that make women more likely to die during a hypertensive crisis. “Understanding these processes could prevent more deaths among women,” she said.
Researchers at Cedars-Sinai, including Drs. Yunxian Liu, Matthew Driver, C. Noel Bairey Merz, Florian Rader, and Christine M. Albert, also contributed to this study.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies about a common and unrecognized cause of high blood pressure, and this small habit can greatly benefit people with high blood pressure, and cholesterol.
For more information about high blood pressure, please see recent studies about more efficient ways to treat high blood pressure, and potatoes and high blood pressure: what you need to know.
The study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
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